The Long Way Home
by Bugsie70
Summary: Preitor Gavorn isn't quite sure how he ended up on Omega, and Omega is the last place he expected something good to finally come his way. My take on Preitor Gavorn's back story.
1. Homecoming

I became a little obsessed with Preitor Gavorn after playing Lord of the Shadow Broker and then doing a masskink fill on him on Live Journal (Originally titled 'Dreams of Illium'). I have characterised him here as a turian who is openly gay (of which there is not enough attention too in ME IMHO) but not really sure what direction in life he's heading. Most of the characters you willl see here are original and from my own imagination.

There is some smut of the m/m variety - if you are uncomfortable with that, please don't bother reading further.

I'd like to thank a few people for encouraging me, Jane (Coombsi here on ff), Raga and Kglaser and all the Clan V members over on BSN. Without their inputs and provision of constant visual stimulus I don't know how on earth I could have soldiered on. I certainly think this first chapter would not be as tight as I feel it is. A special shout out to Jane though for being my sounding pad and general beta, her humour and enthusiasm for the story has been awesome and if you get a chance check out her profile and stories!

I'd also like to thank Meekzu (Moranth here on ff) for additional comments on the chapter, very much appreciated.

Bioware is my Sandbox

* * *

Chapter 1 – Homecoming.

* * *

Preitor walked into the ceremonial hall, shifting uncomfortably in his formal clothes. He looked around. Only a smattering of familiar faces. Many appeared not to recognise him.

_Well, it has been a long time._

Opening a page on Preitor Gavorn, up until now at least, would reveal a life that was somewhat average. The source of drama that had plagued him would be a familiar one to many: the complex web of family relationships. His parents, both engineers, had divorced when he was young, his father going off world, leaving his mother to raise two sons alone.

Cassia Gavorn had worked hard to keep her family together. She had kept her sons fed, clothed and educated, and while the gap from an absent father had had little impact on the younger Gavorn, the older, Caius, had been deeply affected. Now that Preitor had returned for her funeral, the anger and resentment that Caius still harboured would mean an inevitable confrontation and something that would test Preitor's usual easy-going nature. Just like it had during his rare, previous visits.

_Yes, it's been a long time. _

"Preitor? Is that you?" A female with markings of the Sextus clan approached as he sat down.

"Tacita! Yes it's me." He laughed, standing to greet her.

"I would know that laugh anywhere." She moved to hug him. He stiffened slightly, feeling somewhat awkward in her presence, but returned the embrace.

"Where have you been? It's been such a long time. Oh, Spirits, what am I saying, how rude of me, I'm so sorry. Your mother was an amazing person, Preitor."

"Thank you, Tacita. Yes, she was." He answered his thoughts drifting to his mother.

"Have you seen Caius? He was here a minute ago."

"No, not since I've arrived."

"Oh."

_Yes, oh._

Her gaze shifted to the back of the ceremonial hall, and Preitor turned to follow it. _Caius._ His brother strode towards them, but froze when he spotted Preitor standing near his wife. He grimaced and continued his approach.

"Preitor," he said coldly.

"Caius." Preitor's voice was equally icy.

"Isn't this nice, oh Spirits, I mean isn't this good to have the family come together for this," Tacita said nervously. "Your mother would like that." A child of about six came running up to her, breaking some of the tension that was thick in the air.

"Mother, where are we to sit? Who is this?" The child pointed to Preitor.

"Don't point, Isatis. This is Preitor. He is your uncle."

"How come I've never heard of you before?" He asked.

"Well, you may not have heard of me, but I've heard lots about you." Preitor's cold demeanour dropped at the sight of his nephew's smiling eyes, "I'm pleased to finally meet you, Isatis."

Isatis grabbed his arm excitedly, "Will you sit with us, Uncle? Ma, Pa, can he sit with us?"

Preitor looked to his brother as Isatis spoke.

"Go and sit down over there, Isatis, the ceremony is about to start." He said to his son, before turning to look at Preitor, "Yes, your uncle can sit with us."

Isatis led his uncle to the front of the hall and they sat down to listen to the service. It was long. The eulogies, mostly from friends and work colleagues, spoke of Cassia's dedication to family and job. Many pointed out her success under adverse circumstances, but all spoke about her warmth, her love, her humour. It had been a long time since Preitor had cried.

After the ceremony, most of the hall vacated to a small space at the side of the venue. Various people by this stage realised that it was Preitor sitting with Caius and his family. Many came to greet him, offered condolences, and asked where he had been all these years.

"Thank you, I live on Illium now. No, I left the military eighteen months ago…" Preitor politely replied over and over again, their prying questions leaving him drained by the end of the day.

When all had left, and only the family remained, Caius asked, "Where are you staying, Preitor?"

"Nowhere as of yet, I only arrived this morning. I was going to stay at Mother's house."

"We moved her things from there a month ago, there is little left. She hadn't wanted to, but necessity and common sense prevailed. She had been staying with us until..." Caius' voice trailed off.

"Oh, I didn't realise. I guess I'll try and arrange… ah… a hotel then." He scratched his head.

"Come home with us, Preitor. It's where Mother would have wanted you." Caius' demeanour seemed reflective rather than confronting.

"Oh yes, please, Preitor, come home with us. He is right, Cassia would have wanted it," Tacita added.

Preitor nodded. _Okay, I can handle this._

Caius and Tacita's home was luxurious by Edessan standards. Given Caius' status in local politics and the community, Preitor had expected his brother's house to be above average. Caius had returned from his military stint ten years previously and taken up civilian duties with some gusto, which had led to a quick rise in both Edessan politics and business. He had married Tacita, who had been a childhood friend of Preitor's, seven years ago, and within a year Isatis was born. There had been no more children since, but they seemed happy.

Preitor was shown upstairs to a small but comfy guest room; Isatis following him like a lost animal. He placed his bag next to the bed, and he and Isatis returned downstairs to the opulent living space.

"So what have you been doing on Illium, Preitor?" Tacita asked as he sat down, Isatis squeezing in next to him.

"Yes, what have you been doing, Preitor?" Caius echoed.

"This and that, I've started up a small business for myself. Security, mostly. Occasional errands."

"Errands?" Caius' brow plates rose.

"Odd jobs, delivery of packages mostly." Preitor knew that his answer might draw a snide remark or two, but he had no desire to elaborate what _kind_ of odd jobs or packages. Since he left the military, he had specialised not only in security, but also in modification of weapons. This had been particularly lucrative for him, albeit occasionally illegal, and had allowed him to purchase a modest apartment in one of Nos Astra's less salubrious districts.

"So, you deliver peoples mail?" Caius asked.

"No, not really," was Preitor's only comment.

"Are you hungry, Preitor?"

"Very much so, Tacita," he replied.

"Well, I will leave you and Caius alone, come along, Isatis." She cast a penetrating stare at Caius before motioning for Isatis to take her hand.

"Do I have to?" The boy asked.

"Go with your mother, Isatis." Caius said sternly, a tone that Preitor knew all too well.

The young turian shrugged, reluctantly taking Tacita's hand.

Caius moved to the liquor cabinet at the side of the room and took out a bottle that Preitor recognised as one of the most expensive spirits from Invictus.

"Drink?"

"I could do with one, yes." He replied, grateful for the relief the alcohol might give to his rising tension.

Caius handed Preitor a glass and raised it into the air. "To Cassia Gavorn."

"Cassia Gavorn." Preitor raised his glass before his brother sat down on the opposite lounge from him.

"So, Preitor, what happens now?"

"What do you mean?" Preitor took a sip as he gave him a quizzical look.

"Now that Mother is dead, we should set aside our differences to honor her memory. It saddened her that we've lost everything that has connected us once."

"I've always been your brother, Caius."

"For too long that has been in name only."

"And what would you have me do? I'm settling on Illium, things are developing nicely."

"Delivering mail."

"It's not mail." Preitor sighed. He knew where this was headed, he rubbed his temple in response.

"Mother wanted you to come back here. To Edessan. Work for me. I can get you a good job at the ministry, Preitor. It would far exceed anything you could possibly develop for yourself on Illium."

There it was again, that pompous dictatorial tone he had whenever he wanted to pressure Preitor to do something.

"Hell, you might like it, Preitor."

_Being bossed around by you, I don't think so._ Preitor held his tongue.

"Like I said, Caius, things are going well for me on Illium. I'm not coming back to Edessan."

"You should stay a while; we have Mother's estate to sort out."

"I'm pretty sure you can do that without me."

"What if I get greedy? Take all her possessions for myself and Tacita?" He laughed, something Preitor had not heard from his brother for many many years.

"Honestly? I don't care. You can have as much as you want. You're the one with family. I have everything I need."

"Everything but responsibility it seems."

Preitor bristled at the statement.

"Someday, you might want to settle down, even raise a family…"

"Stop right there, Caius. You know that's never going to happen. As much wishful thinking on Mother's and your behalf, that's one thing…"

"Oh yes, I forgot. You don't like females."

"I'm not attracted to females, get it right will you?" _Why, always the same question, like he doesn't know. _"You haven't 'forgotten'. Why the hell do you keep bringing this up? Spirits, why is this an issue with you? On one hand you seem supportive, on the other you sound like you have something against my sexual preferences, that it undermines my responsibility in some way." Preitor quietly seethed before continuing. "You have a wife, you have a son. You have the dynasty you wanted. I am who I am." This is exactly how he expected it to be with his brother. _It was a__lways the same._

"I have a son, yes." He paused momentarily, "But your place is also here. On Edessan. With your family."

"I'm not coming back here to play lackey to you, Caius."

"You always were a selfish little bastard, Preitor."

"I have a job, I have responsibilities. But it's always the same accusations you throw. My supposed selfishness, my lack of responsibility. You never elaborate on that, and I have no idea what you're talking about. I don't know where you get that from, Mother never said anything like that to me."

Caius snorted, "That's because she indulged you, Preitor. You were always free to do what you wanted."

"As were you!"

"You think? Mother needed _me_ to be the alpha male in the house, she needed that more than she acknowledged. In the end, when she was sick, when you were, Spirits knows where, she had me and Tacita. Where were you? You'd left the military, you had no ties. An occasional visit is not enough. You may be the second son, but you had a duty to be here."

"Oh come on, you make her sound like she was some pathetic female with no ability to fend for herself."

"In the end she wasn't able to fend for herself, Preitor. When did you see her for the last time? What, three, four months ago? She went down rapidly. I was here, Tacita was here. You weren't."

Preitor sat back down. "I don't know what you want from me, Caius. I won't play this game. I came here to mourn just like you and Tacita and Isatis. So drop it."

"What game?"

"The good-son-bad-son bullshit you like to pull. The 'you're not being a very good turian, you're irresponsible, Preitor', bullshit."

An uneasy silence gripped both of them. They stared indignantly at each other, neither violating the hush that had come over the room.

Caius poured himself another drink and walked over to Preitor who held his glass out silently.

"Are you seeing anyone?" Caius asked abruptly.

"What? Yes, I mean no."

"Yes or no?"

"I was, but not any longer."

"Was he turian, at least?"

"Yes, he was turian." Preitor shook his head. "What if he wasn't?"

"If it wasn't, then… but he was so it's not an issue, Preitor," Caius said dismissively and stared into his glass.

More uneasy silence followed, until Caius finally spoke.

"I just want you to come back to Edessan. Even if you don't want to work for me, whatever you do on Illium, surely you can do it here?"

"There you go again."

"What? What does that mean?"

"It means it's not going to happen your way, Caius. What I do on Illium can't just be transferred. Edessan is a backwater. Just stop asking."

"Give me one reason why you shouldn't come back here, other than this is supposedly not a good place for business."

"Just one?"

"Just one."

"Okay, you want to know why I wouldn't come back here? Do I really have to explain that to you? I think you pretty much know the reason." Preitor drained his glass again and stared defiantly at Caius.

Caius' only response was to cast his eyes downward.

2167 – 18 years ago

Preitor was a little nervous. It was the first time he had felt this excited for a long time. He knew it was more than friendship; he had been certain of that when Laelius had suggested they meet later that day. It hadn't been the first time he'd felt Laelius' eyes wash over him as he bathed in the showers after a game, even though he had tried to keep his own eyes from doing the same.

All of his male friends joked about sex, but unlike them_,_ Preitor's only reason for considering a female partner was his curiosity about the mechanics. Otherwise, he had no interest. _Surely it's got to be similar. _He'd asked his brother but Caius had laughed, and then said, 'I assure you, Preitor, it's not the same!'

"Preitor!" A familiar voice yelled across the field, distracting him from his thoughts.

"Hey, Laelius!" he answered enthusiastically.

His friend jogged up to Preitor and was slightly out of breath. "Where shall we go?"

"Let's go get something to eat at that place Tacita was talking about. And after that, maybe you want to come back to my place... or?"

"You sure? About going back to your place that is? I hear your brother is in town."

"Yeah, but he headed out yesterday with some friends, I don't know where they were going. And my mother won't be home till late."

"What if we get caught I mean…"

"Caius knows about me, Laelius."

"Yeah, but, still, I... I don't like the thought of him walking in on us whilst... you know."

Preitor reached his hand out and gently stroked Laelius' arm. "Yeah I understand. I'm a bit uncomfortable with that idea too. Caius has been acting a bit weird since he came back from Bostra. He keeps bossing me around like I'm some sort of recruit, arrogant ass that he is."

"Maybe your mother is keeping a list of all the bad things you've been doing whilst he's gone!"

Preitor snorted. "Me? I'm the perfect fucking son, didn't you know, Laelius?"

"Yeah right, Preitor; like the time you made that little bomb and set it off during morning exercise two weeks ago? The Turian/Palaven anthem sounded awesome with explosions." Laelius laughed.

"Yeah and they still haven't worked out who did it. But like I said, he's not around…"

Laelius moved up close to him, staring intently into his eyes as he spoke. "Well, why don't we skip the eats and head straight to your place then?"

"Yeah... um... okay," Preitor's dry mouth stammered, barely hiding his excitement.

After what felt like hours to Preitor, but was less than ten minutes, they arrived at the apartment. He took Laelius' hand and led him up to his bedroom, where they both sat anxiously at the end of the bed, a large, awkward distance between them.

"Did you see the game last week?" Preitor asked, his mouth even more dry than it had been before.

"Yeah, good game that was." Laelius answered, a slight nervousness creeping into his voice, that mirrored Preitor's own.

"Yeah, good game," he echoed, glancing at him with a shy longing.

Finally Laelius made a move, shifting closer so that he could place a hand on Preitor's leg. Preitor's nervousness translated to a slight shake in his legs as he turned to him reaching up hesitantly to tug on his fringe.

Laelius sighed before standing and removing his shirt, urging Preitor to do the same. He did so willingly.

Laelius removed his pants and underwear, Preitor's eyes following his every move, mimicking him till they were standing opposite each other naked.

Their excitiment was tinged with youthful embarrassment their erections only starting to appear. Preitor was barely able to take his eyes off Laelius' body, glancing nervously at Laelius' eager eyes before reached nervously out to grab Laelius hand to lead him over to the bed. They lay down on their sides facing each other.

"How's this supposed to work?" Asked Laelius.

"I have no fucking idea," Preitor laughed.

They moved closer, embracing one another. The touch of Laelius' bare skin on his own sent shivers down Preitor's spine. Their teeth began to nuzzle into each other's necks, while their tongues licked over the rough skin in exchange, exploring the strange taste. Laelius moved his hand down to Preitor's erection and began to pull lightly, his eyes watching Preitor's reaction closely. Preitor sighed. Another slight stroke and the sigh became more audible.

"How does that feel, Preitor?" Laelius whispered.

"Good," Preitor replied, his voice hoarse.

"Can you... I mean, do you want to touch me there too?" Laelius asked.

Preitor nodded and reached down moving his talons along Laelius' erection. They both touched each other intimately, releasing small moans from their union.

A loud bang downstairs made Preitor sit bolt upright.

"What the…?" Laelius said.

"Shit," Preitor swore as he fought to untangle himslef from Laelius. "It's my brother."

They leapt off the bed, hurriedly reaching for their clothes. Caius' heavy footsteps came closer. "Preitor, you'll never guess… ,"He said as he burst into the room. His smile was quickly replaced with confusion, then one of fury.

"You," he said, pointing to Laelius "Get dressed and get the fuck out of here, now!"

Laelius did as told, and as he moved to the door Caius kicked him hard in the flank. The younger turian gave a short yelp, before he hurried out of the room.

Caius turned to Preitor, "What the fuck is this all about?"

"What does it look like," He answered defiantly, the words a statement to his brother not a question.

"No, you tell me what is going on here. Now." Caius had barred the doorway, preventing Preitor from leaving.

"What the fuck is wrong with you? I'm doing what I want to do, so fuck you." Preitor said as he put his pants and shirt back on.

"You selfish little shit."

Caius' fist connected with Preitor's face and he stumbled backwards.

"What the fuck was that for?" Preitor wiped the back of his hand across his now bloodied face. "You're an asshole, Caius."

"What the fuck is going on between you and Laelius? You better tell me." Caius was shaking with anger.

"Are you for real? Any dumb ass could see what was going on." He had a youthful swagger in his voice. "I was going to get laid. For the first time, I might add."

Caius' fist hit his face and he fell on his back. Caius jumped on him and began to pummel him. He tried to kick, he tried to fight back but the older turian was far too formidable and Preitor could do little to fight him off.

"Not in this house!"

Another vicious punch. By this time, Preitor's face was a bloody mess. The two had fought before, often in play, occassionally with violence, but Preitor had never seen Caius this mad before.

"You are not doing this to me... to us! I'm not letting you do this!" Caius shouted as he stood and pulled his younger brother up with him.

"What?" Preitor mumbled, unable to make any sense into his brother's words for he felt too light headed and his jaw had begun to distend, making thought difficult.

"I won't let you destroy everything I've worked for," Caius yelled again, his voice warbling as he punched him forcefully one last time.

Preitor's knees buckled under him and he fell into unconsciousness.

When he woke, he was in his bed, his face cleaned of blood and his shirt changed. Someone had tucked him in.

"Preitor," his mother said quietly from his left.

He could barely murmur through his swollen mandibles. Cassia's talons brushed gently across his forehead.

"I'm so sorry." She began to cry softly.

Preitor put his hand out to her, their talons entwining when she grasped it carefully.

"If I had been here, none of this would have happened." Her tears trailed down her face. Preitor responded by squeezing her hand tighter, shaking his head.

"Not your fault," he stuttered. _His fault, him and his one eyed view of this family._

His mother fell silent and he felt her pleading look.

"Preitor, " she began.

"No!" He replied stubbornly, cutting her short. He knew exactly what she was going to say.

"He's leaving in a few hours," she continued, "And he wants to talk to you before he leaves."

Preitor shook his head violently, ignoring the pain it caused. "No, Mother!"

The two of them sat in silence for a minute before she spoke again.

"Please, Preitor." She gently touched his cheek and turned his face to look at her.

When he saw the pain in her eyes, he gave in, "I'm not doing this for him, but for you, Mother," he finally said.

She smiled weakly before running her hand across his brow once more and leaving the room.

Caius entered shortly after, and seated himself where his mother had sat before. Preitor stared unflinchingly at him, daring him to speak.

"Preitor, I…." Caius contemplated what to say. "I don't understand why you..."

Preitor cut him short. "You don't understand? Are you serious? I confided in you," he glared at his brother, confused and disbelieving.

"No, it's not that. You know I have no problem with that."

"Then what the hell don't you understand? You come back here, acting like an imperious ass, bossing me, bossing Mother around, accusing me of being irresponsible and selfish and then beating me senseless." Preitor spat every word at his brother. "And then you say you don't understand this?"

"Preitor, I'm… "

"Was it the last straw, Caius? Me being gay? Me… "

He didn't answer.

"I thought you were above that shit. You seemed fine about it when I told you years ago. Sure, you can call me immature, self-centred but I thought…"

"I'm not homophobic, I've already said that, Preitor. Far from it," Caius interrupted.

Preitor snorted, "You have a funny way of showing it."

"If our father had been here, he would have been him giving you the beat down."

"What the fuck are you talking about Caius? He's not here, and you're not him, or are you trying to emulate him in some sick way?"

Caius winced at Preitor's last comment.

"You didn't know him, Preitor, you were young when he left. He was an asshole. Despotic, tyrannical, heavy-handed, cruel. I'm going to be a better turian than him, a better father, a better..." He moved his eyes down to the floor.

"Not getting off to good start." Preitor replied angrily.

"I want good things for you, Preitor. But you lack discipline, self-control, if you continue to act this way... I just don't think you'll get them if you continue to act like this."

"Like what? You've got to be fucking joking. You say you want to be better than our father by acting exactly like you expect _he_ would? "

"You'll understand when you're older, Preitor. Right now you're just a bag of hormones, gut instincts and bad behaviour. I'm not proud of this, but I did it for your betterment. It's probably a good thing for you to be heading off into service sooner rather than later."

"I might be young, but I've known myself and my desires for a long time. By _betterment _do you mean a better turian? Or something else?" he stumbled over his words as thoughts on what happened began to arise, _no, Caius, don't do this to me_. "I thought you would… I didn't expect you to act…" Preitor could no longer take it, he turned his head away refusing to look at Caius anymore, the anger, the pain, the humiliation, washed over him, and he began to sob. "Just leave, Caius." He said between breaths.

Caius stood, and quietly left the room. Whatever bond they had, whatever had previously kept them close, was now well and truly broken. Preitor wept for that most of all.


	2. Going round in circles

I would once again like to thank my wonderful beta's, Jane (Coombsi here on ff), Raga and Meekzu (Moranth here on ff). They helped me whip this into shape, and helped me turn it into a what I think is now a reasonable chapter. Hopefully not too much angst for some!

Bioware is my sandbox.

* * *

Preitor opened his eyes to find a small dark brown pair staring back at him intensely. He started and then blinked a few times before his vision came into focus.

The night before, he had retired early, but not before he had drunk too much, and combined with the weariness of the previous day's events, he still felt groggy. However, he still managed a grin for his nephew, and as he squinted at the expectant child, he rapidly alternated blinking each eye.

Isatis giggled in response, then turned to pick up a large plywood box that almost dwarfed him.

"This is yours, Uncle. It's from Grandmothers house. Can we take a look?"

"Hang on one minute, Isatis." He looked to see the time; it was almost midday. When Preitor stood up from the bed, he swayed slightly.

_Hell, I didn't think I drank that much..._

He went to the bathroom and splashed cold water on his face, and as he did, memories of last evening's confrontation came flooding back. The discussion between him and Caius had ended up leading to an awkward dinner with long pauses, punctuated with Tacita's or Isatis' questions. After dinner had been no better.

If it hadn't been for Tacita's presence, he would have expected more bullying tactics from his brother. Fortunately for Preitor, his brother had stopped pleading for him to return to Edessan, if for no reason other than the latter being just as weary as he was. But Preitor suspected there would be more to come before he departed.

Turning back to Isatis, Preitor could see by the excited look on his face that he was very eager to find out just what was in the box.

"Can we look now?"

Preitor chuckled, "Of course we can."

They sat together on the bedroom floor and Preitor ran his eye over the familiar box. He had some vague memory of it but couldn't recall the box as ever being part of his possessions. It was covered in a simple turian decorative design on three sides and on the fourth side Preitor recognised his own scrawling handwriting.

"P-r-e-i-t-o-r Gavorn," Isatis said, "Is that you, Uncle?"

"Yes that's me." His amusement at his nephew's enthusiasm made him stifle a laugh.

"Father has one too. His handwriting is neater than yours."

"Is it now?"

Inside were a number of toys that Preitor recognised, ones that he hadn't seen in a very, very long time. A large number of photo prints, a couple of datapads and sports trophies. He hadn't known that his mother had kept these things.

Isatis picked one of the trophies and read it aloud, "P-r-e-i-t-o-r Gavorn, best on ball. What's that, Uncle? Is that yours?"

"Indeed it is, it was the last time I played clawball, a long time ago, before you were born."

"You played clawball?" Isatis asked, his eyes becoming large with barely contained excitement.

"Yes, I did. Well enough, I guess, to earn this. Would you like to keep it?"

Isatis nodded enthusiastically then looked into the box again. When he saw the toys, his face lit up. The promise of more keepsakes keeping the giant smile plastered across his face.

"What's this?" Isatis pulled up a tangled mess of string and torn fabric, his smile turning into a look of confusion.

Preitor took it from Isatis' hands, and laughed, "It's a kite." He paused to turn the weathered and red faded material in his hands. "You know, it was your father who showed me how to fly one. I remember it like yesterday."

"He said he was going to buy me a kite! I want a dark blue one."

"I always preferred red..., red is my favourite colour for kites."

_**Edessan National Day, 26 years ago**_

The wind had picked up considerably since they left the military parade and had gone down to the park, but it hadn't dampened the enthusiasm of the family for the annual National Day family picnic. The formalities of celebrating the installment of Edessan's first Primarch were generally followed by family get togethers. Cassia Gavorn had laid out snacks, sure to spoil the feast that would come later. This was going to be a special occasion, for in a few days, her eldest son would be heading out for military training.

"C'mon Caius, you promised!" Preitor said, a mouthful of sweets muffling his voice.

"Yeah, yeah, okay Squirt, just hold on a minute…" Caius attention was taken with the small communication device in his hand and he was laughing.

"Come on!" Preitor repeated impatiently.

"Caius…," Cassia said sternly. "You have plenty of time to talk to your friends later, you promised Preitor."

"Okay, okay. Come on then." The elder brother grabbed Preitor by the shoulder and they headed to a less crowded area of the park.

The kite in Preitor's small hands flapped against him as he walked.

"Here, grab these." Caius placed the double handles of the kite in his hands, "Now, hold tight."

Caius moved back holding the rest of the kite before releasing it into the air and running back to where Preitor was standing.

"Okay, you can steer it by moving one handle back, see it twist?"

Preitor was mesmerized by the colour of the bright red kite against the serene and clear blue sky. The kite moved gracefully even in his unskilled hands. He manoeuvred it awkwardly, unused to how quickly it would respond.

"Want to see something neat, Preitor?"

He merely nodded and Caius took the handles of the kite from him. He watched in awe as his brother made the kite dance, bob, and sway from side to side, and then he ran backwards doing the same. Preitor ran after him.

"Let me try!"

Caius handed the control back to Preitor, but his smaller stature and lack of kite flying skills made it difficult to have the same sort of control. He tried to do his best to mimic the moves his brother had made, but before he knew what was happening the kite crashed into a nearby tree.

Preitor turned with great disappointment to his brother, who shrugged.

"Don't get too upset, Squirt. These things happen."

They went over to the tree and Preitor looked up forlornly. "Can we get it out?"

Caius scratched his head and looked at the tree, "I don't think it's safe, Preitor." He pointed to a hanging branch. "The limbs are obviously rotten."

"I could get it." Preitor said, his interest in retrieving the item undiminished by his brothers concerns for safety.

"Uh-uh, Squirt; Mother would kill me if you got hurt."

"What about you?" He pleaded.

"I don't think so. I'm not risking an injury before I head off. Come on, there's lots of food waiting for us. Let's just forget about it, we can work out something later."

Caius turned back towards the picnic, but Preitor had other ideas. Before his brother had a chance to stop him, he had scrambled half way up the tree.

"Preitor, get the hell down from there!" Caius yelled.

Preitor wasn't listening; he was almost there. He reached out to grab the kite, but as he did, he heard a sickening crack, and the branch fell away, taking him with the kite now firmly in his talons, hard down onto the ground.

He looked up to see Caius standing over him, a concerned look on his face, "Look, I got it, I got it, Caius!" His voice trailed off as he felt a sharp pain in his leg.

"I don't feel so good…" When Caius helped him to a seated position, he vomited, then promptly passed out.

When he woke later, he found himself in bed with his mother and brother sitting nearby, quietly arguing.

"Don't worry about us, Caius. We'll be fine, honestly."

"But he's getting worse. He doesn't listen, he's wilfully disobedient…"

"Caius, I can handle him." His Mother's voice had a severe tone to it, one Preitor rarely heard. He knew he'd done the wrong thing by climbing the tree. But he had gotten the kite back. That was the important thing in his mind.

"Where's the kite now?" Preitor asked.

His Mother and Caius turned towards him, surprised that he was awake, and a relieved smile came to Cassia Gavorn's face.

"The kite is at home, Preitor," Cassia said.

"You really are a little fool. I told you not to climb that tree," Caius words sounded harsh in the wake of their Mothers softer tone.

"But I got the kite back!"

Cassia started laughing.

"Mother. He won't learn if you laugh at his antics."

"Listen to you, Caius. My word." Cassia leaned over and rubbed her hand across his face. "So serious. You don't get that from me."

"Mother…"

Cassia turned to her younger bed bound son, "Preitor, do you want something to eat, seeing as you missed out on the picnic?"

The youngster nodded and Cassia left the room.

Caius turned to his brother, a serious tone in his voice, "Look Squirt, you better behave yourself when I'm not around. If I hear…"

"But I got the kite back!" Preitor interupted, his high spirits remaining despite the injury recieved from his escapade.

Caius couldn't stop himself and laughed, "That you did, Squirt, that you did."

_**Present day**_

Preitor smiled before putting the kite back and rifling through the rest of the box; there were a few framed photographs, old, slightly sun damaged, and showing him and his brother. He picked one up and traced a talon around the edge, him and Caius at play, an unguarded moment of joy between them caught on film. He didn't recognise the photos or the frame and wondered where his mother had displayed them.

He put some of the things aside to pack into his bag and looked to Isatis.

"You can have whatever remains in here, Isatis, as long as you promise to look after them." Preitor tried hard to address the child with a serious face.

"I will, Uncle, I will," he replied earnestly.

"Good. You go ahead and store them away. I am going for a walk, okay?"

"Can I come, too?"

"Not this time, Isatis." He looked down at his nephew's face and watched the disappointment rise before adding, "Let's make a deal, when I come back to visit, if you look after what's in that box, then I'll let you be my bodyguard and you have to come with me everywhere, because I will need protection. How does that sound?"

Isatis nodded in eager agreement. They stood and Preitor watched as his small form waddled to his room with the large box in his hands.

After he finished getting dressed, Preitor looked deep into his bag. Inside was a datapad. He scrolled through his collected notes till he came to one, the last one from his mother dated less than a week ago.

_Preitor, my love, this may be the last time that I write. My illness is taking me close now, I feel it every day as it becomes harder and harder to draw breath... _

He felt a degree of self-reproach as he read. He sighed and stopped for he knew what the rest said; it lamented that he and Caius were no longer close, that she hoped that after she died things would improve between them, that she loved him, loved them both. He returned the datapad to his bag before heading downstairs.

Tacita was in the dining room tidying up when he came in.

"Morning, Preitor," she said in a light, airy voice.

"Morning, Tacita." Preitor could manage only a small smile for her in return.

"What are you going to do for the rest of the day?"

"Well, I thought I would go for a walk. I've decided to stay for an extra night and leave tomorrow if that's okay."

Tacita smiled broadly before answering, "I am so glad to hear that. Caius will be pleased, too. He thought you might stay… Just for another night that is." She looked away guiltily, her eyes avoiding his and moving quickly to the floor.

Preitor held his tongue. He wasn't sure why he had decided to stay another night; the contents of that box perhaps, a compulsion maybe, if only to walk around the town to convince himself that any choice he made would be the right one. He didn't want to come back but… now he wasn't really sure.

"Where is Caius, anyway?"

"He had some business to attend to, but he asked if you would meet him later this afternoon for a drink at Fens."

"You mean Fens is still standing? I thought that place would have been demolished years ago."

"Still standing and refurbished. The new Palaven architectural style is catching on here in Edessan. A lot of old places are being renovated."

Fens was a rundown hotel in sore need of repairs, but it remained popular with many of the locals. Caius had taken him there before he left to start his military service, and he remembered it well. He had not wanted to go, not with his ever watchful brother, but he said yes at his mother's behest. His last night before departing; the celebratory 'end to his youth', and Caius had been the last person he had wanted to spend it with.

"Do you want something to eat before you go?" the modulation in her voice softened.

"No, I'll be fine, thanks. I'll grab something while I'm out. So I guess I'll see you later."

_Let's see if this town is really any different._

Preitor had been back to Edessan many times, but he rarely took the time to look around. He headed out along the path towards his mother's old house. It wasn't far. His heart leapt into his throat as he approached. The thought of returning here, even though he had done it many times before her death, suddenly made him feel ill. This house personified everything good and everything bad about his life on Edessan.

The small patch of vegetation in front was unkempt, the house itself, worn. When he pushed the key in and opened the door, a musty smell assaulted his nose. Preitor took a deep breathebefore stepping over the threshold.

_Well, certainly nothing here. _

It was empty. No furniture, only dust remained. The floor rattled under his feet, and as he climbed up the stairs, he felt the shake of the balustrade beneath his grip.

Preitor walked from room to empty room before coming to a standstill in front of the door of his old bedroom. As he opened the door, emotions of past events washed over him. Eighteen years of torment shook him as he looked around, almost expecting someone to be there. But the room was empty, filled with nothing but dust and memories.

He moved to the window and sat down on the floor, his back resting against the wall, knees up, talons clasped together. His second thoughts about leaving were quickly dissapating as he relived the events of the last day, over the last decade and longer. He sat there for a very long time.

"_Why do you have to be such an ass, Caius? Why can't you leave me alone, let me do what I want?"_

"_This family needs stability, Preitor. I provide it. You don't. I've been doing it for as long as I can remember. And as I said before, it's better you leave for training now. Mother would agree."_

"_She only agrees because you pressured her into agreeing. I wasn't planning on going till next season."_

"_Don't argue Preitor, just drink up."_

An hour passed before he realised that he had been staring at the blank wall in front of him. By this time, his hands were balled into fists. His nails dug into the palms, any deeper and they would be bleeding. His jaw was set so hard that he felt pain shoot up towards his temples. If his mother was here, was still alive, he knew her gentle presence would calm him. But his mother was not here.

He had to leave; there was no longer any doubt in his mind. As he stood, he took one more look around the room and let out an involuntary sigh. Yes, a lot of memories; some good, but many he was happy to leave behind. He left the house as quickly as he could.

He walked swiftly past house after house, the neat, unending suburbia leaving him cold and in need of a drink to still his turbulent thoughts. When he reached the downtown area more traffic, more apartments and people appeared. There were a large number of shops and manicured public gardens were more abundant than he recalled from his youth. When he rounded the bend, he saw the large structure of the Fens rise up to greet him.

Yes, it still stood. It was polished, not run down as he remembered, no peeling paint or crumbling edifice. He spotted a new attachment at the building's side, and as he got closer the smell of food wafted towards him. He eagerly climbed up the large steps that led to the front bar of the hotel; desperately needingthat first drink, and essential mental preparation for his meeting with Caius.

He briefly noted the foyer off to the side glistening with new architecture and that spoke of the colony's wealth. This town had changed indeed, but he wasn't sure it was for the better.

He went to the bar and ordered a large turian ale before taking a seat by a window close to the entrance that offered an interesting view of the street in front. Many people came and went about their business, oblivious to his stares. The bar crowd was scant, mostly younger turians discussing buisness and one older couple arguing discreetly nearby.

He sat quietly, nursing his drink and gazing out the window, the alcohol slowly having its impact. When he finished, he strode back to the bar and ordered another.

"Preitor. Preitor Gavorn."

He turned to see who had addressed him and found himself looking up into the unmistakable face of Laelius Manius.

"Laelius?" Preitor's face showed a mix of surprise and bemusement.

The other turian nodded with a smirk, "Yes, I still go by that name."

"What... what are you doing here?"

"I might ask you the same thing, but unfortunately I know why you're here. I'm sorry to hear about your Mother. She was a good turian."

"Thanks. Yes, she was. Well, these things, they, ah... happen to us all."

"Yeah, they do."

They stood looking at each other. Preitor was not really sure what to say, his surprise leaving him stumbling for words.

"Ahh... I'm meeting Caius shortly." A resentful tone crept into his voice as he mentioned his brothers name. "But, hey... would you join me for a drink?" he asked.

"Sorry, I have to be somewhere in about…" he glanced around, "ha, ten minutes ago, but perhaps later? Maybe we could have dinner? They do a good meal here."

Preitor contemplated the invitation for a moment. Caius and Tacita might not want him to spend his last night on Edessan somewhere else, but he laughed inwardly. His brother had always said he was selfish. When he furtively looked Laelius up and down, a sudden spiteful thought towards his brother emerged.

_Yes. Tonight I'm going to be that selfish little prick that my brother says I am, and he can go fuck himself. _

"Okay," he replied.

"How long is your meeting with Caius?"

"I don't know. I'm hoping I don't have to spend more than an hour with him."

"Well, let's meet back here in around an hour then?"

"Sounds good to me, Laelius."

"See you then, Preitor."

As Preitor watched him leave, he couldn't help but feel that old attraction resurfacing. Laelius was taller than him now by a few inches and a little more buff. Even more so than he remembered. His thoughts over the years had occasionally turned to Laelius, but the bitterness he felt towards his brother had forever tainted the simple pleasure of those teenage memories. As a consequence he had tried hard not to think about any of it in the last eighteen years. He quickly downed the remains of his drink.

_Time for at least one more before that bastard arrives._

Preitor was quietly sipping his third ale when Caius arrived and joined him. He had picked the same turian ale. It seemed they still shared some tastes...

"Caius," Preitor nodded as his brother sat down opposite him.

"Have you made your decision, brother?"

Preitor shook his head, "About what?" He asked in a biting tone, mock bewilderment painted across his face.

Caius took a sip before speaking, "Still playing the smart ass I see."

"I do it so well. It would be a shame to drop the act." He took another sip of his drink, the alcohol fuelling his increasing tension. "It would have been nice to have some small talk first: 'Hey, Preitor, how was your day?' 'Hey, Preitor, nice weather we're having...' 'Hey Preitor, fancy another drink before I deliver some stinging rebuke?' You know; lead into things gradually."

"Fine. How was your day, Preitor?" Caius retorted.

"Let me see. I visited Mother's house, walked through the banality that is suburbia here. Admired the gardens and all the people here going about their incredibly important business. Yeah, pretty much spent the day contemplating things and how my life is drastically lacking in seriousness. Delightful, de-fucking-lightful. How was yours?"

"No need to be sarcastic, Preitor. I can see where this is headed. I thought..."

Preitor interrupted him, his body stiffening in response to his brother's tone of voice, "What you thought, Caius, is that I would walk around and think, 'Yeah such a pretty place. How could I ever make the mistake of not getting my shit together and coming back here for good? If anything, it confirms what I've said all along. Edessan is not the place for me and no, I'm not staying. There's your answer, Caius. Short and to the point."

"I'm disappointed, Preitor." A note of saddness creeping into his other wise hostile demeanour.

"I've expected nothing less than for you to be disappointed, Caius." He shook his head again.

"Tacita and Isatis will be disappointed, too."

"Don't drag them into it. I won't be bullied or manipulated into staying." Preitor took a large gulp of his drink.

Both brothers remained silent for some time. The hostility between them was palpable.

"Is that honestly what you think I'm doing? Bullying and trying to manipulate you?" Caius finally spoke, his voice cracking slightly.

"You've done nothing but that since I arrived."

Caius rubbed his temples and sighed. "Preitor, you've made your intentions clear. I won't ask again. Suffice it to say that I think you're making the wrong choice. But to remain civil in this, I'll say no more. When are you leaving?"

"There's a transport back to Illium leaving at noon tomorrow. I'll be on it."

Caius nodded, draining the remnants of his glass before standing.

"Leaving so soon?" he said sarcastically.

"I thought we might have some intelligent discourse on this matter, without you turning into a petulant little..." He stopped, "But alas, I was mistaken. I'll see you at dinner."

As he turned to leave, Preitor snorted, "Ah no. Won't be joining you for dinner." now he could deliver the real punch, _perfect timing, _"Bumped into an old friend today. You remember Laelius Manius? He and I have some catching up to do it seems."

Caius' clenched and unclenched his fists. Preitor saw the reaction that Laelius name had provoked, and felt satisfied that this was exactly how he hoped his brother would respond. "So, I guess I'll see you later then, _brother,_" Preitor said, a smug smile appearing on his face as he turned away. He drained his glass and glanced back to watch Caius' retreating form head towards the exit. Their meeting had lasted less than 20 minutes.

Preitor stepped up to the bar again; this time something stronger was in order.

When he returned to his seat, he was surprised to see Laelius enter and approach him.

"Caius not show up, Preitor?"

He slammed home his drink before he replied, "Oh he showed up all right, and now he's gone. Hey, I thought you weren't coming back for another hour or so."

"My meeting also finished abruptly. So, here I am, but you look like you have a lot on your mind, Preitor. I wouldn't want to intrude on anything if you weren't expecting me so soon. I can come back later..."

"You're a welcome distraction, Laelius, believe me, very welcome. Here let me buy you a drink and we can have 'polite discourse.'" He frowned at the memory of Caius' words to him. When Laelius insisted he be the one to buy, Preitor let him.

"So, how are you doing, Preitor?" Laelius asked as he sat down, passing Preitor his drink.

"It depends; do you want an honest answer or just a polite reply?"

"An honest answer, of course," he grinned.

"If you must know, being back here on Edessan sucks varren balls." He grinned and took a sip of ale.

Laelius' mandibles flared in amusement.

"You haven't changed, Preitor."

"You have. I mean how many fucking inches have you grown?"

"Just a few." Laelius was unable to hide his growing smile.

"What are you still doing on Edessan anyway?" Preitor asked, running a talon down his looking over Laelius familiar but now definitely adult body.

"Well, I left actually, then I came back."

"Why the fuck would you do that?" He looked incredulously at him.

A young turian approached them, "Mr Manius, great game last week, really sweet. Can I get your auto-auto-autograph, p-please?" he stuttered nervously.

Preitor watched in amusement as Laelius nodded, taking the datapad and stylus from the shaking hands and scribbling his name. The younger turian smiled and offered profuse thanks before leaving.

"Who the fuck are you? Some great clawball player or something?" Preitor asked, baffled.

"Well...Yes, actually. I play for the Etrusion Demons."

Preitor shook his head and they both laughed.

"Should have known. You always had.. ah... the physique for it." Preitor glanced over to the bar but not before giving Laelius a sly look from the corner of his eye. _Spirits yes, still damn hot._

"What about you? Where are you living, if not here?"

"Illium. Been there since I left the military, although..."

"Although?"

"Caius wants me to come back here."

"Ah yes, Caius Gavorn, upstanding citizen of Edessan. Almost as famous as me," Laelius said with a smug grin.

"Really?" He gave Laelius a quizzical look.

"People know your brother, Preitor. He has friends in high places. And probably a few enemies, too. What, you had no idea?"

Preitor rubbed his forehead. "This trip is turning into a mindfuck, Laelius. Since I've returned, Caius has been badgering me to stay, trying to force his bizarre notion of some sort of perfect turian family on me. Starts to make sense now if you paint it in the light of 'ambitious politician'."

"That he is. I can only imagine that his relationship and attitude towards to you hasn't changed." Laelius took a large mouthful of ale before continuing, "So are you?"

"Am I what?"

"Going to stay."

"Spirits, no. I have interests on Illium and besides, everything about being here is a mindfuck. Even meeting you. Of all people to meet. Here. Now. I mean, what a wild coincidence."

Laelius fidgeted nervously in his seat, but Preitor failed to notice, "How's Tacita?"

"Tacita...I really don't know, Laelius. We haven't really talked much lately. In fact, we haven't really talked much since she married my brother."

"I guess... I guess you've grown apart."

"Maybe. She seems keen to keep me around, don't know why the hell she would, though... considering."

"Mmmm, does... does Caius know?"

"About that? No, he has no idea. It just makes for more awkwardness on both mine and Tacita's side. It was a long time ago, Laelius, a lot of water under the bridge. I miss her though." Preitor swiped a talon across his mouth in a contemplative way.

"I miss having her around. I regret few things, but I regret what happened between us. If Caius wasn't such an ass...

"Spirits, listen to me, I haven't seen you in how long, and I'm going on about something that happened almost twenty years ago. Things here, well, they are truly fucked up, Laelius, let's just say I am keen to leave."

"But you would rob me of an audience, Preitor. I would only get to play awesome clawball champion for a night and gloat about my success to you, making you feel small and insignificant in my presence." He said jokingly.

The alcohol and pleasant company prompted Preitor to respond to this with a loud laugh.

"Just consider yourself lucky that not having me around means I'm not able to retort with stinging barb after stinging barb about how I'd never heard of your success until you started gloating. I'd be no good for your ego, Laelius."

Laelius responded with a laugh equal in volume to that of Preitor's.

The two old friends settled into easy banter and for the first time since arriving, Preitor felt relaxed, the alcohol providing an easy lubricant to their conversation.

They moved to the bistro section of the hotel to dine, the laughter and reminisces of good times continuing before returning and finding a seat in the now crowded bar.

"So, Preitor, are you seeing anyone?" Laelius' spoke louder in order to be heard over the surrounding patrons.

"I was, but it ended a few months ago. He got sort of... clingy and annoying. I don't do clingy and annoying well. Still hangs around. He's a tailor, tried to get me to wear new fashion crap, I'm more the armour and casual wear type, so, yeah, it became a little annoying in the end."

"I can't imagine you in fashionable clothing, ha! You wouldn't be the Preitor Gavorn I remember if I saw you in Palaven's latest fashions!"

"Doesn't really go with the guns and ammo look I've been cultivating over the years." Preitor gave Laelius a furtive glance before asking, "You seeing anyone?"

"No one serious. Being in the public eye and all, sometimes the attention you get puts you off, and it can be a strain on the relationship, plus I'm pretty driven to focus on my sport. I did go out with this guy last year." He gave a casual wave of his hand.

"He's a local celebrity. Been in a few films, even a big part in an upcoming film 'Fleet and Flotilla'. The attention we created whenever we went anywhere, I fucking hated it. I don't mind being in the spotlight for my sport, but for just being part of some celebrity couple, nah, not me."

Almost as if on cue, several turians approached them and asked if they could have a photograph taken with Laelius.

Preitor laughed as Laelius shrugged his shoulders helplessly.

"Look, Preitor, why don't you come back to my place? It's quieter and only a short cab ride away," he asked after the throng of admirers left. He tilted his head, raising his brow plates expectantly.

"Yeah, okay, why not?" Preitor replied, maybe a little too quickly.

The ride was short as Laelius had said, and the cab stopped outside a set of smart looking apartments in the uptown area of the city. They stepped into the building and took the elevator up to the top floor.

Preitor grinned as he wondered what the apartment of a famous clawball player would look like; probably far more luxurious than anything he could possibly ever think of owning.

As they stepped inside, Preitor gave a low whistle. "Wow, just wow."

It was spacious; a modern kitchen overlooked a large living area with comfortable seating. A feature fireplace stood off to the side. The vid screen was almost as big as Preitor's apartment on Illium.

"You like?"

"Fuck, Laelius, if I knew playing clawball would pay this good I would have stuck with it."

"Only the minor leagues, Preitor, not the Universal, but it pays well, yes. That and a few sponsorship deals gets me a few extra credits, for when I retire from the game."

"It will be a long time before I can afford to retire, let me tell you." Preitor laughed.

Laelius grabbed a couple of glasses and brought out a bottle of rare Invictus spirit.

"Here," Laelius passed a glass to him, "To Cassia Gavorn."

Preitor raised his own glass, "To my mother, Cassia." Then reached out to clink with Laelius' before both of them took a sip. The clawball player motioned for Preitor to sit and took a seat close to him, leaning back into the very comfortable sofa.

"So, what is it that you do on Illium then?"

"Security mostly, you know. When famous clawball players and their celebrity mates come to town, I provide a service..." Preitor looked over Laelius' prostrate form and licked his lips unintentionally.

"Ha, very funny. No, really what?" he asked and looked attentively into Preitor's eyes.

"Well, that's it sort of." Preitor said matter of factly.

"Does it pay okay?"

"Not nearly as well as being a clawball player. But my name is getting known. More jobs. Plus I do other stuff."

"Other stuff? Like what?" Laelius leaned forward to listen.

"You wouldn't be interested, really, don't want your eyes glazing over or anything." Preitor said dimissively, trying not to act too keen to Laelius' attention to him.

"No really, I am. What other stuff?" His mandibles flickered.

"I have a side business in weapons modifications. It can be quite lucrative."

"Why don't you just concentrate on that then, rather than the security aspect?"

Preitor laughed and took a swig before speaking, "It's not always..."

"Not always what? Lucrative?"

"No, it's not always... legal. Don't get me wrong, it's mostly legal, but some modifications fall outside the Councils definition of legal. I just happen to be reasonably skilled at it." He looked down into his glass.

"I see. Does Caius know?"

"Ha, Spirits, no. Could you imagine what that might do to his political ambitions? Having a brother working in illegal weapons modifications? I think he might actually throttle me if he ever found out."

"I can imagine, yes," Laelius replied.

Preitor sighed and leaned back into the softness of the lounge, placing one hand behind his head. They remained silent for a while.

"Did you ever think what it might have been like if we were each other's first time?" Laelius looked earnestly towards the now very relaxed Preitor.

"Sometimes, yes. Considering what happened after, yeah, it would have been good." His eyes ran appreciatively over Laelius' atheletic form.

"Me too, instead the memory of my first time was my commanding officer on the Tiberius. Fucking asshole. Half tricked me into it. I was so young and stupid." Laelius leaned forward, putting his now empty glass down before leaning back again, this time slighty closer to his companion.

"That doesn't sound good." Preitor gave him a concerned look.

"It was okay, I guess, just not the way I would have wanted it to be; like it might have been with you." His voice had a disappointed edge to it and he glanced at Preitor slyly.

"Lot of water under the bridge since then, Laelius." He laughed and ran a talon around the rim of the now empty glass.

"A flood I think you call it, Preitor. With that laugh of yours, surely a flood."

The look they then exchanged was a knowing one. They both knew where this was headed; the tension between them had been present the entire night. The reason why Preitor had said yes; why he told himself that Caius could get fucked. He may have been playing the selfish little prick in his brother's eyes, but he didn't care. He really didn't fucking care.

When Laelius reached out and brushed a talon down the side of his face, he smiled, sat upright, put his glass down, and then reached over to grab Laelius' neck with one hand, drawing him closer till their foreheads rested together in an intimate connection.

_Eighteen years..._


	3. Don't be a stranger

_Sorry folks, been a long time between chapters, lots of other things happening as well as other stories and artistic pursuits. But here it is, a massive thankyou to Jane (Coombsi), Raga and Meekzu for their fabulous efforts in helping me whip this into shape, much appreciated my lovely friends!_

_Bioware owns the characters of Mass Effect, the story is my own. Enjoy!_

* * *

A soft blue haze filtered through the large windows. Even at less than half crescent, Edessan's moon was still bright enough to outline the shadows in the room. Preitor sat, half dressed, on the side of the bed, repeatedly clasping and unclasping his talons, and watching the slow breathing of the sleeping turian who had been his bed partner for the night. It had been a long time since their first adolescent fumbling, and a long time since Preitor had felt this comfortable with another partner. As he watched Laelius sleep, he knew that the longing he had for him wouldn't endure. Now, more than ever, he felt disconnected from this place, he knew that what he wanted from life couldn't be found here.

Long silenced doubt about what he really wanted, from himself, his career, his relationships even, began to dominate his thoughts. He shook his head. Better to leave those unexamined. Even better to leave this place sooner than later.

Preitor stood and walked over to the window. He couldn't quite see the street below, but he could hear a few late night revellers. Other than that, all was quiet. As he was weighing up whether he would leave silently without saying goodbye, Laelius' sleepy voice spoke from the bed.

"You're half dressed. Going already?"

"Its almost morning, Laelius. I need to get back, finalise a few things." He walked back over to the bed as he spoke and watched as Laelius sat up, "My transport leaves at noon tomorrow."

Preitor fished around for his remaining clothing before seating himself at the end of the bed.

"Preitor... I," Laelius stopped short of finishing his sentence and rubbed the back of his neck. "You should do what you think is best, no matter what Caius thinks, or Tacita for that matter."

"Tacita?" Preitor asked quizzically as he pulled the tunic over his head.

"Oh, I mean... you know. I'm sure she wants you to stay too, that's all." Preitor couldn't help but feel that there was more going on than he was aware of, but he shook it off. "Anyway..."

"Anyway, yeah, it was fun. You want me to call a cab?" Laelius reached for his comm that lay on the bedside table.

"No, I think I'll walk. It's not too far."

"You sure? I mean we were both pretty drunk, and well, don't know about you, but I'm still a little exhausted." Laelius gave him a huge satisfied grin, one that Preitor couldn't help but return.

"Just a little maybe, but really, fresh air will do me some good." Preitor put his boots on and stood up. "I guess I'll see you around... maybe." He nodded his head towards Laelius and turned to leave.

"Hey." Preitor stopped in his tracks and looked over his shoulder at Laelius who was still grinning and hadn't moved from the bed. "Don't be a stranger."

Preitor smiled and nodded again before leaving the apartment. As he stood at the elevator doors, the walls of the corridor started to close around him, a sudden feeling of panic drove him to get out as quickly as possible. This place, this city, this planet, smothered and confused him. Just when he thought he'd made sense of of things, resolved issues, felt happy even, a pervasive feeling of entrapment would arise. He made his way to the nearby stairwell and hurried down several flights before exiting the building.

The eerie glow from the moon, while subtle in the apartment, assaulted his eyes. It almost seemed brighter than any sunny day on Illium, or for that matter brighter than the ostentatious lights of its nightclub district. He hurried along the quiet streets, the familiar scents of his childhood drifting back and assailing his senses as he increased his pace to a gentle run, the light pounding of his feet on the pavement provided a calming influence. If he could, he might never stop running.

When he arrived back at his brother's house, it was dark, as he expected. He felt a low rumbling in the pit of his stomach and headed to the kitchen.

The light hummed as he flicked the switch and made his way to the pantry. Food would provide him a needed distraction from his thoughts about what had happened in the last few days, and in particular the past twelve hours. He didn't hear the light footsteps behind him as someone entered the kitchen.

"Preitor," Tacita's voice came from the door, almost like a whisper.

He turned, swallowed, and wiped away remnants of the tupo berry crumble he had been devouring. "Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you..."

Tacita put her hand up to motion him to stop. "It's okay, Preitor. I haven't been able to sleep anyway." She moved to the pantry and also grabbed some tupo berry crumble. She sat down opposite him, and swallowed a mouthful before she spoke.

"So..."

Preitor eyed her intently. "So?"

"You've definitely made up your mind then?"

Preitor bowed his head and sighed, partly in frustration, partly in disappointment that it was now Tacita asking him, instead of his brother.

"Yes I've made my mind up. My gut instincts spoke to me from the moment I stepped off the transport shuttle. I just got temporarily confused by things."

"I can understand that. There's been a lot happening here since you got back."

They both sat quietly, eating their snack before Preitor broke the silence. "When did you last see or speak to Laelius?"

Tacita gave an audible gulp at the question. "I… ahh…"

Preitor placed his cutlery on the bench top and eyed her intently. She turned her head away from him unable to take in his gaze.

"Oh, okay." He shook his head, and remembered that Laelius had mentioned Tacita earlier. He made a sudden realization and sighed again. "Why Tacita? Did you think dangling him in front of my face was going to change my mind?"

Tacita tried to hide the guilt at what she'd done, but her eyes gave her away. She nodded before turning her gaze to her hands, too ashamed to even look at him. "I thought if you had something else here, you might want to stay, give Edessan a try. Don't be angry, Preitor. Please."

Preitor rubbed his forehead. "I'm not angry, Tacita. It's just, I don't understand why. I thought you of all people would understand. You don't still have feelings for me that way, do you? Because if you do then that's just another reason I need to leave."

Tacita turned to face him, "I bumped into Laelius about six months ago. We were at yet another political shindig for Caius', a fundraiser for the next political campaign. The new owner of Laelius' clawball team is one of Caius financial benefactors. So of course all the high profile players were there. Caius even spoke to him briefly; it was all really civil. He and I got chatting, and we've been talking ever since. To be honest, Preitor, he's been a good friend to me, for me to speak to about… about… things."

"Things? Tacita, what's going on?" Preitor looked up at her in confusion.

"Preitor, I may have had feelings that were less than sisterly at one time, and after… When you left, I was tangled in my own thoughts, about you, about Laelius and I didn't know what I wanted. Doing a tour of duty sorted me out. When I came back to Edessan to finish in the civil service, I met up with Caius, everything fell into place for me. I love your brother, now more than ever, but I can't pretend things have been easy for us over the last few years. With your mother ill, and his political career…"

Preitor's voice dropped to a soft whisper, "And…?"

Tacita hesitated, staring off into the distance before refocusing her gaze back on Preitor, "Caius wants... he wants another child, and so far nothing has happened. We've been to every specialist on Edessan that we can afford, we even travelled to the Citadel twelve months ago. Nothing, nothing has worked." Tacita's hand now went to her brow, almost in unison with Preitor's.

"Tacita, I'm sorry. I didn't know…" He paused. "Hell, how would I know? I barely speak to you or Caius. It still doesn't explain why you want me here. It might explain Caius' motives a bit better, but you?"

"I was talking about it with Laelius, and I said that Caius had almost grown distant with Isatis, and that it would be nice to have another male around, meaning Laelius, not you. Later I mentioned how Caius really wanted your return. I explained that you had been estranged for many years and that it was unlikely. After your mother died though I had the idea that maybe Laelius could get you to stay. It was a crazy thought and I dismissed it. That was until I saw you with Isatis.

"I spoke with Laelius almost immediately. Isatis dotes on you – I could see a connection straight away. But I know…"

"Isatis doesn't need me, he needs his father. Despite our strained relationship, I can see Caius is a good man who loves his family. That's obvious. I can't believe I'm saying this, but he's a better turian than me. That's for sure. All the things he says about me are likely true." Preitor waved his hand trying to dismiss this nagging thought he had about himself being anything but a good turian, "He needs to focus on you and Isatis, and let me go."

Tacita let tears form at the corner of her eyes before rubbing them away and nodding.

"I'm a crap brother Tacita, and a crap uncle, too. Tell Caius, tell him that you're worried about him and his relationship with Isatis. Hell, tell him if he doesn't reconnect it will be like him and me all over again!"

Tacita laughed, "Are you also a crap counsellor?"

"Yes, in all likelihood. I've never been good at relationships, yeah… um, I always seem to disappoint, and you know." Preitor scratched his head, "The thing is, I don't really care. Some people might consider that sad."

"Well, yes, I suppose some people might."

"I don't care that I disappoint; it's complicated. I don't mean to insult you or anyone else in my family, or disregard your feelings, but I don't want to live up to some standard, some ideal set by someone else. Ha, I could even live with disappointment being my middle name. I could change it, I could become Captain Preitor Disappointment, do away with the family name altogether."

Tacita shook her head, "Perhaps it's more simple than that. Maybe you've yet to meet someone you really haven't wanted to disappoint."

Preitor smiled, "You know, you could be right. But we've had enough about me. I'm a simple turian, with simple needs. One of which is to be left to his own devices. You, however, need to speak to Caius. Me, all I need do now, is to get off this planet for a while."

Tacita moved around the bench and closer to him, placing her arms around his waist. He stiffened, but relaxed as she squeezed hard, returning it with a squeeze of his own.

When she let go, she moved her fingers to his arm. "Preitor, leave. Go find something, go find you. Just don't be a stranger."

Preitor could see that she meant it, that she wasn't saying it because she thought he needed to hear it, but because she believed that it would be for the best. She moved to break from his arm but he grabbed her talons firmly with his.

"I can't promise anything, Tacita," he said earnestly.

"About being a stranger or finding yourself?"

"Both?"

Preitor let his grip on her go. Tacita smiled, and headed towards the door before turning to him again.

"I'll see you in the morning, which by the looks of it, is only a few hours away. Get a little bit of rest."

Preitor nodded and grabbed another serve of the tupo berry crumble before retiring to his own temporary but welcome bed.

_"Caius is an ass and you should just tell him that!" Tacita aimed and fired the small pistol towards a set of targets set up on nearby log. The loud cracking of the bottle brought_ _about a satisfied grin and her mandibles flared wide._

_"I do, all the time!" Preitor threw his head back and howled into the evening sky but his voice caught in his throat and he collapsed into a fit of coughing. He paused before continuing "You know, he keeps an eye on me, like a… like something that keeps an eye on things. Here give it to me." His words were slurred as he grabbed the gun from her talons._

_"Well, you should tell him again, but I guess it doesn't matter, you'll be out of here in less than a week. And anyway, he doesn't know you're here with me!"_

_"Well, he's gotten lax since Laelius went off world." Preitor looked along the pistol's small barrel before aiming and firing at the targets. The bullet missed completely and the clap of the gun's release echoed through the forest._

_"What? Why?"_

_"Shit, piece of shit. I can make a better gun than this crap, totally out of alignment." Preitor dropped the gun, kicking it to one side before grabbing the half full bottle of turian brandy __from the ground._

_"What's Laelius got to do with it?" Tacita asked again, her words beginning to slur, too._

_Preitor staggered over to a nearby rock and sat down before taking a swig. He looked at Tacita and shrugged, "Dunno, just does."_

_Tacita seated herself next to him on the rock. "Just 'cos you two were friends and… 'cos you were getting into trouble with him all the time?" She tilted her head questioningly_.

_"Yeah, it was that." Preitor looked away and took another swig. He didn't want to give anything away. "Doesn't matter, I'll be out of here soon and can do whatever I want; I'll be free, a military life for me away from here."_

_Tacita snorted and grabbed the bottle from him, "Preitor, you're an idiot, military service is about… service… you know, for the turian people and all. You won't be free." She snorted again, "I would never tie the terms 'turian military' and 'free' together, they're mutually exclusive! You won't be 'free' until they let you go." _

_"Oh yeah, never really thought about that. You're right_._" He stopped and pointed a talon at her. A fleeting thought about what the military might really be like crossed his mind, but he shook it off,_ _"But I won't be here and that's a good thing. And as long as they don't station me near _'_big brother_'_, I think I'll do just fine."_

_They passed the bottle from one to another several more times before Tacita spoke. "What do you want to do, Preitor?" _

_"Finish this bottle," he guffawed __before handing it back to her, Tacita couldn't help but join in before elbowing him in the side._

_"No, I mean when you leave the military, do you think you'll come back here? To Edessan?" She shoved the bottle in his talons as she spoke._

_"I might. I hadn't thought that far ahead. Right now as far away from that prick of a brother of mine is where I'll start." He turned to her. "What about you, Tacita? You gonna be the good turian and pump out little turian babies in honour of our illustrious hierarchy after your service?" He laughed again, "Spirits, I'm fucking funny!"_

_A surly look crossed Tacita's face and she folded her arms. "You're a fucking idiot, that's what you are. I might do that, I don't know."__  
_  
_"Aw, don't be like that. You know… here…."_

_Tacita pulled the bottle from his hands and put it to her mouth, some of its contents spilling down her chin, the churlish look still unmistakably on her face.__"You're dribbling." Preitor put his face close to hers._

_Tacita's tongue came out and she licked the remnants of alcohol from around her mouth._

_"Preitor…" She stopped short, dropped the bottle and put her hands around his neck, drawing their foreheads together._

_Preitor was too drunk to resist the pull towards her, or to stop her hands from beginning to roam._

_"I like you." Her hand wandered to the front of his_ _tunic and pulled him closer. "A lot."_

_"I like you, too, Tacita," he said without thinking, and before he knew what was happening, despite her somewhat smaller frame, she had managed to push him to the ground. She straddled him before moving one hand up underneath his tunic, the other down the front of his pants. He let her do this, and closed his eyes. He could feel her talons scrape the top of his thighs, and he imagined that it was Laelius and not Tacita touching him. He moaned slightly as she touched him beneath his underwear. He could feel himself getting aroused, her talons gripping him gently as they moved up and down his slowly growing erection._

_He moaned again, "Laelius."_

_His eyes shot open, and he grabbed her wrists._

_"No_," _he shouted_ _before pushing her off him and away._

_Tacita sat dumbly at his feet as he shakily stood. "Oh," was all she managed to mutter._

_"I'm… I'm sorry," he said as he drunkenly stumbled away. When he looked back, that image, of her kneeling on the ground in the twilight, staring into him, the revelation in her eyes clearly evident burned itself forever into his memory._

_"Fuck this planet," he muttered as he began to run out of sight. The terrain, hard to see in the now rapidly fading sunlight, was uneven enough that he fell, his face landing on a soft mound of moss. As he slowly picked himself up, a confusing __debate began to rage in what was left of his coherent brain cells. Should he go back and tell Tacita everything, or just let her figure it out for herself? "Fuck this planet," he muttered again, before stumbling away, away from Tacita, away from the only friend he likely had left on Edessan. _

"Fuck this planet!" Preitor yelled as he sat bolt upright as he woke.

A momentarily stunned Isatis laughed from the end of the bed.

"Better not let Mother hear you say that Uncle!"

Preitor rubbed his eyes, _what the hell?_ He was perplexed about the dream. There was, however, a lingering feeling of something, disquiet perhaps, he couldn't quite put a talon on it. _It's nothing, Preitor, you idiot, remnants that's all, this place is messing with you again._ He looked towards his nephew, "How long... wait- What's that in your hand?"

Isatis leapt up from the end of the bed and handed Preitor his datapad. "It was making lots of noise so I got it from your bag for you. You have 27 new messages, Uncle. There's one from Wasea Danita, from the bank 'bout an 'overdraft'. What's an overdraft? Does it float on the water?"

He stopped and giggled before continuing, "Your friend, Thul, asked when your lazy turian ass is coming back to Illium. And there are 24 from somebody named Dexius Tullius. He doesn't sound happy, he calls you not very nice words, then he says he misses you and wants to-" Preitor quickly grabbed the datapad from Isatis hands before he could finish what he was going to say. He grinned at him and shook his head. "Ahh, thank you for the very thorough debriefing, Isatis, but does your mother let you read her messages on her datapad?"

Isatis nodded, "Yes!"

Preitor narrowed his eyes, and tilted his head questioningly at the young turian, "You sure about that?"

Isatis nodded again, this time with a slightly guilty look in his eyes.

"Mmhmm. Sure she does..." He dropped the datapad on the soft blankets of the bed, grabbed Isatis round the waist and began to tickle him unmercifully. The giggles emanating from his nephew made Preitor laugh loudly in response, before Tactia arrived at the open door.

"Isatis, what did I tell you about bothering your uncle?" Her gaze was disapproving. "Mmmm?"

"That I shouldn't bother him if he was sleeping, but he's awake now!" Isatis placed his hand to cover his mouth from his mother's view, but he was whispering so loudly to Preitor that even Tacita could hear, "I won't tell her you said a rude word if you don't tell her I looked at your datapad, okay?"

Preitor glanced at Tacita, then back at his nephew before nodding and giving him a sly wink, both of them grinning widely.

"Out, now!" Tacita pointed toward the door as Isatis sullenly removed himself from his uncle's grasp.

"See you later, Squirt," Preitor said.

Isatis bowed his head slightly and hesitantly walked out of the room.

"Sorry, Preitor." Tactita said moving her hand over her son's fringe as he walked out the door.

"It's okay, I'm quite fond of him, even if he is _nosey_." He emphasised the last part of the sentence as he looked towards the door where the Isatis was still lurking. The young turian giggled. "Reminds me a bit of myself, actually."

"Ha, don't let your brother hear you say that! Anyway, brunch is almost ready."

"One last family meal together before I leave, eh?"

"Yes, I think it would be... nice. I'll let you get dressed." _Tacita slipped out of the room, muttering for Isatis to get out of the way, shutting the door behind them._

Preitor reached for the datapad, and deleted the bank message. He went over the messages from Thul; he rarely got jobs from the surly krogan, but when he did they usually paid well. There were no details, just that he had one lined up for him and that if he didn't get his ass back to Illium, he'd have to find someone else to do it. And Dex, he hoped that Isatis hadn't really understood the meaning behind those messages. Preitor's talon hovered over the delete button, but then moved them to the junkmail folder instead. He'd read them later._ Maybe.__  
_  
After dressing, he joined the rest of the family for brunch. The meal was quiet, sombre even; Caius barely said a word, even Isatis was subdued.

As they finished, Caius finally spoke directly to him. "I'll take you to the spaceport, Preitor."

"One last chance?"

"No," he replied. "It's obvious to everyone that you won't stay. I'd be an idiot to try to persuade you again." His reply was terse and it appeared that Caius had truly relented in trying to get him to stay on Edessan.

Preitor was mildly surprised at his statement and felt a pang of guilt when he saw the solemn look on his brother's face. They'd rubbed enough salt into each others wounds to last for some time, so he left it at that. Now wasn't the time for aggravation.

"Can I come?" Isatis looked back and forth between his father and uncle.

"I don't think-" Caius began but Preitor interrupted.

"I think that is a very good idea, Squirt. Yes, a very good idea." He looked to Tacita as he finished his sentence. She mouthed a quiet thank you to him in response.

Caius looked somewhat surprised by Preitor's statement, but shrugged, "Okay. You can come."

"I'll help you pack, Uncle!" he grasped Preitor's talons and dragged him upstairs.

When they reached the room, Isatis eagerly grabbed Preitor's bag, heaving it up on to the bed.

"You don't have much stuff," Isatis said as he went over Preitor's meagre possessions.

"Gotta travel light, Squirt." This passage sounds a bit off. Maybe 'As he moved to pack a small pile of freshly washed clothes that had been placed for him, a small piece of cardboard dropped from between them.

It was a postcard, showing a Palaven beach side with with pretty turian females and beefcake males posing.

_Hey Squirt, _

_Our unit is stationed on Palaven at the moment, as the postcard implies. Aside from the gruelling training, it's only the occasional leave off base that prevents us from going nuts. Plus there are some nice things to look at on the local beaches, if you get my drift. _

_I've got to ask you to stop sending me requests to bring weapons and parts back for you, I can't do it, and my commanding officer is getting suspicious about it. Yeah, the bastards go through everything here. Nothing is private. He probably thinks I'm a smuggler and you're a terrorist. _

_Anyway, gotta go. I love you but I'll beat your puny ass if I hear you're giving mother too much grief (so I would get yourself ready now cos I heard what you did last week. I'll be home in less than a month).__  
_

_Caius._

Preitor was pretty sure that wasn't amongst his belongings that had been left. He smiled at remembering his reaction to the beefcake turians on the postcard, and his scoffing at Caius supposedly beating his 'puny ass' for his latest infraction. He ran his talon over the picture on the front again, trying to remember the last time he had seen it.

Isatis voice chirped, breaking Preitor from his reverie, "What's that?"

He hesitated before answering, "Just a postcard your father sent me, a long time ago."

"Can I see?"

Preitor passed the postcard to Isatis and watched as the young turian flexed his muscles like the turian on the beach. Preitor could not contain the sudden burst of laughter that exploded from his lungs.

Preitor returned his attention to packing, still chuckling at his nephew. He tool one more look at the postcard before returning it to his bag.

When they came back downstairs, Preitor hugged Tacita goodbye.

"Don't be a stranger," she yelled as the three of them piled into the hover car.

"You already said that, Tacita!" Preitor shouted in response and waved goodbye until she disappeared from his view.

The ride to the spaceport was quiet, except for Isatis pointing out various landmarks to him and flexing his muscles for his father. Preitor had a fleeting feeling of sadness, leaving here, leaving his family, but it was quickly quashed by thoughts of the next job back on Illium.

When they arrived, Preitor's transport back to Illium had been brought forward, so there was little time for goodbyes; he was a little grateful for that.

Preitor knelt down to address his nephew face-to-face.

"Now remember, Isatis; when I come back, you're going to be my bodyguard, so I expect you to have learnt the trade by the time I return." He looked to Caius, who wore a wry smile on his face.

Isatis nodded enthusiastically, and once again flexed his small muscles.

Preitor stood and turned to the elder Gavorn.

"Caius, I…"

His brother put his hand up to stop him. "What is that saying? 'It's all water under the bridge?' I hate using human phrasing, but in this instance, it's apt."

"I guess so, yeah." Preitor muttered' relieved that there would be no more said on the matter.

"Listen to Tacita, don't be a stranger, to her or Isatis, or me. Good luck, Pr-_Squirt_." Caius emphasised this last word, the look on his face serious but sincere.

As Preitor headed through the docking bay door, he turned to wave at his brother and nephew, but neither was watching. His mind drifted back to the postcard as he observed Caius scoop Isatis up in his arms and walk away. A simple smile crossed his tired features.

_I won't be a stranger._


	4. The trouble begins

To those who have been following Preitor's story – sorry for the delay, again a lot going on in my life (moving house, helping my father move, work, work, work and more work) and once again I've been distracted by other artistic pursuits (although I'd love to be able to draw a turian - any turian, but alas my skills are somewhat lacking!). I promise the next chapter won't be so long in coming!

Once again I'd like to thank my beta readers Raga, Meekzu(Moranth - still trying for a shirtless Thane, I haven't forgotten!) and Jane (Coombsi).

* * *

Preitor scraped his talons down the back of his neck, the release of tension sending a release to his core and coaxing a loud and frustrated sigh from his mouth.

_Spirits, why is this flight taking so damn long?_

He'd started the trip calmly enough, feeling relaxed about how he and his brother had parted. But after 4 hours, his patience was wearing thin. His right leg shook, a tick he exhibited when bored or nervous. This feeling wasn't helped by two incredibly noisy children kicking seats, yelling, squealing and generally serving as painful reminders of the confined space the adults on board found themselves in. Complaints of a dozen other passengers about their behaviour had failed to silence them or motivate the oblivious asari parents.

Preitor fidgeted in his seat again. _Only one more hour…_

The turian next to him turned and looked pointedly at his vibrating leg.

"Do you mind?"

"Oh, uh, sorry." He placed his hand on his knee to stop the movement and looked around the cabin. There was the usual smattering of turians and the occasional asari. Two snooty salarians sitting near the rear of the cabin hadn't looked happy at the seating arrangement. Now, seated as they were just behind the asari family and between two gibbering younger turians, they appeared even more ropable than when they first sat down. Preitor overheard their insistence that the turian steward find them better seating, preferably in the premium section of the ship, but it fell on deaf ears.

Preitor craned his head into the aisle determined to get a better look at those seated in the premium part of the cabin. He'd seen a small party of chatty volus take their seats when they boarded –their wheezing voices exhaling in unison as they shuffled towards their seats.

He also managed to catch a glimpse of the rarest of passengers – especially on a turian ship leaving a turian colony – a lone human. He couldn't see her from his position, but her outfit pinned her as a diplomat or businessperson. Humans didn't come to turian-dominated colonies for fun.

His interaction with humans had been limited to shopkeepers and mercs, and he'd never spoken to one about anything other than business. He found them terse but polite mostly, although some seemed to have distaste for turians. So far, he hadn't had any unpleasant dealings. Technically, learning about the history of the first contact war was supposed to instil a loathsome hatred towards them. However, his general indifference was tinged with a slight curiosity.

He picked up his datapad and sighed, thoughts drifting towards Dex. Damn he was persistent. Despite ending their relationship many months ago, he had yet to disengage himself fully from the needy turian. Dex's behaviour veered between clinginess when Preitor wasn't around and affected distance when he was. Both these traits Preitor detested and were the major reason for breaking it off. Yet he couldn't say no. Okay the company wasn't great, but good food and sex always lifted the mood.

The usual correspondence between them involved Dex cajoling Preitor into going somewhere (usually where Dex's affluent friends gathered) only to be left to his own devices whilst Dex 'worked the room'. Whatever weight Preitor had put on in the last year was due to him standing alone next to a bountiful buffet.

It had been a slow process, but Preitor had gradually moved away from the colourful turian who had been his lover for almost a year. He was never very successful at ending relationships; they seemed to limp on until the other party moved on, finally allowing him to be free, but without the hard work.

He opened up the junk mail section of his inbox, 24 messages since he'd been gone. He pressed the delete all button.

His thoughts were interrupted by a voice over the ship's intercom. "Due to an unexpected solar wind event we'll be arriving at Nos Astra 30 minutes earlier than our scheduled time. Thank you."

_Thank the spirits for that…_ Preitor tried to stare down the noisy asari children who were now climbing from seat to seat, not like a good little turian. These asari were spoilt little bastards. He caught himself and laughed, _that's something Caius would have said_.

Half an hour later, they arrived at Nos Astra. When he finally stepped off the ship and into the terminal, he stopped, closed his eyes and breathed in deeply. Nos Astra had a familiar smell, one that immediately made him feel alive again, a strange smell somewhere between ozone and an elcor berry bush, but it had infected him. A silly grin passed over his face and he opened his eyes.

_Home._

He slung his bag over his shoulder and made a direct line for the commuter cabs.

A recognisable voice stopped him before he made it to the back of the line.

"Preitor! Why didn't you tell me about your mother?"

A sudden sinking feeling invaded him and an inaudible groan escaped. He turned slowly towards the turian who had called his name.

"Hello, Dex," he said, tiredly.

"Jeanera told me about your mother. Poor Preitor, I could have come with you, supported you when you needed it most." His head bowed towards Preitor's in a sign of intimacy.

Preitor ignored it. "Jeanera, I don't remember…" His sometime business associate, Jeanera, an asari who seemed to know a lot of people and knew a lot about their lives as well had obviously spread the news around. How the hell she had found out was beyond him.

"Well… you see, Dex, I just didn't want to burden you with my problems…" He rubbed his mandible and shuffled his feet, before giving him a weak smile.

Dex eyed Preitor suspiciously before choosing to ignore the tell-tale sign that he was lying and instead grabbed the bag from Preitor's loose grip.

"No matter. You must come back to my place. I'll feed you a glorious meal, none of that backward colony rubbish you've been eating. Then later we can maybe go out for a few drinks and…"

Preitor didn't move, "Really, Dex. I just want to go back to my apartment. I'm really tired and I just want to be alone right now." Sitting through an overstuffed meal with his former lover was the last thing he wanted to do.

"Oh, you know I am here for you, always. Let me chauffeur you home at least." Dex's mandibles flared widely as he spoke.

Preitor acquiesced and let himself be led to the private cab Dex had waiting, a perk of being a tailor to Ilium's wealthy and socially important people.

As they climbed into the cab, Preitor noticed that there was a bottle of expensive asari wine. Dex shoved a glass into Preitor's hand and uncorked the bottle, filling both their glasses to the brim.

"To me!" Dex said haughtily before gulping down half the glass. When he finished he pestered Preitor to do the same. "Drink up!"

"Um, what are we celebrating?"

"Oh you haven't heard! Silly me!" Dex replied. He put the glass down, sat up straight, and smoothed his tunic top.

"I, Dexius Tullius, am to be…" He paused and took a deep breathe, closed his eyes, and put a hand over his heart, "a special costume consultant to Gavare Studios!"

Preitor looked at Dex his face passive. "Gavare Studios?"

"Yes, isn't it wonderful?"

"Dex, I have no idea what Gavare Studios is."

Dex's face fell. "Preitor, tell me you're kidding. In all the time you've known me, you can't say that to me."

"Well, yes I can because I honestly don't know who or what Gavare Studios is."

Dex leaned back in his seat and sighed. "You truly are a lost cause, Preitor." He crossed his arms in frustration. "Gavare Studios is the same company/studio who made Vaenia"

"Vaenia. Right, right, um, that asari film."

Dex grunted in frustration. "Preitor, Vaenia is not just _that_ asari film. It's _the_ film. The one fashionistas from all over Citadel Space refer to in their latest collections! They all know about Vaenia."

"Right so you'll be working on a sequel to Vaenia," he nodded. "That's good."

"Well, no, not Vaenia, not a sequel. I'll be working for their turian general programming department." He looked a little embarrassed before he clarified, "But it's a step up, and I'll be associating with the costume designers of Vaenia, of course. Who knows where it could lead!"

Dex's superficiality had always bugged Preitor. He sensed it now, but in this instance, Preitor was glad of it. It meant he'd be moving on from his 'bit of rough' as he'd heard one of Dex's idiotic friends refer to him once. He had to ask Jeanera what that actually meant. She had laughed, and rubbed Preitor's arm, "Oh Sweets, It means, um, your slightly beneath him, class wise." She had screwed her nose in a conciliatory manner when she spoke.

"Good. That's really good, I'm happy for you Dex." He took a swig of champagne. "Ah I guess this means you'll be going off world to Thessia, then?" Preitor couldn't hold back his enthusiasm for _that _idea.

Dex gave him a meek smile. "At times, yes." He placed a hand on Preitor's knee. "But I'll still be there for you… I mean us."

Preitor's grin widened at the notion of not having to deal with another failed relationship. "Here's to you then, Dex!" and he drained his glass.

When they arrived at the apartment, Dex placed his arm around Preitor's waist. "You know I'll never forget you, don't you?"

Preitor feigned a look of earnestness. _Huh so much for always being there for me. _"Of course you won't, Dex." He gave him the sincerest smile he could muster before removing himself from the turians embrace.

The small Nos Astra apartment he called home since arriving on Ilium smelled stale. He flicked on the air-purifying unit and tossed his bag in the corner of the main room. His boots followed and he headed barefoot into the kitchen. He needed a snack to outweigh the light-headedness he felt from the alcohol.

The pantry had nothing but packages of dehydrated meat. It would have to suffice. He grabbed the closest packet before opening the fridge. Nothing but two bottles of turian ale. He grabbed one and just as he began closing the door, he hesitated before deciding to grab the remaining bottle.

The bed was still unmade, so he roughly pulled the covers up and sat on top. He gulped greedily at the now open bottle of ale before biting off a huge chunk of dehydrated meat. If he closed his eyes, he could almost believe that it was Palaven bean roast he was eating, almost. He gulped down the rest of the ale before opening the second bottle.

He lay down, talons still gripping the bottle. His eyes closed and his mind wandered to events on Edessan, his brother and nephew, Tacita's brightly coloured clan tattoos flashing before him. He allowed a wide grin to spread across his face at the memory of his night with Laelius. For a second he felt blissfully happy. It was enough to ease him into sleep. The half-empty bottle fell from his grasp, spilling its remaining contents onto the floor.

He woke to an incessant beeping noise from his communication device. He stood, before realising that the sticky mess under his feet was ale.

"Gah." He kicked the bottle to the side before running to his bag in the next room and rummaging through it to find the comm.

It was still beeping loudly when he pulled it out of the bag.

He fumbled before answering it in an irritated manner. "Yes?" he asked.

"Gavorn, you scaly bastard, where the fuck have you been?" Thul's growled in his low gravelly voice.

"Thul, yeah ah sorry I just got back late last night. I was going to call you first thing."

"Sure you were. Do you want this job? Otherwise it goes to the next turian on the list."

Preitor rubbed his eyes with the base of his palm. "What's the job again?"

"I sent you all the specs. Haven't you read them yet? Hell, you turians get lazier and lazier with each passing day I'm alive. Next thing you'll be asking for some asari to come bring you breakfast in bed." There was a long pause before he continued, a snicker tainting his speech, "Oh, wait, that's not your thing. Perhaps some nubile salarian guy then…"The krogan's raucous laugh rang loudly in Preitor's sensitive ears.

"Yeah, yeah, real funny, Thul. Give me a minute… Let me take a look." His eyes, still fuzzy from sleep, ran over the message Thul had sent earlier.

"_Gavorn, A volus named Radoor Lar, wants two krogan for security backup. He's to make delivery of a package somewhere or other I don't really give a damn where. I can't do it myself, but he said he'd be happy with one krogan and a well-armed turian. So, do you want the job alongside Therax or not? This is the last fucking time I'll ask. If you can't be bothered responding, don't expect anything more from me."_

Preitor paused for a moment. He'd gotten a small inheritance from his mother, but on a place like Ilium, even with his business in weapons modifications running in the black, he still needed the occasional job to make sure he could live in comfort. This job seemed to be paying exceptionally well for a short security stint. Five to six hours total, payment of five thousand credits per security guard and another five thousand when Lar has delivered the package and is back safely in the hotel. Seemed like easy money. The job was to accompany Therax, Thul's brood brother. The krogan was easy company, a little dimmer than Thul, but they had gotten on well. It was likely the package wasn't legal, but if you could buy your way through customs – which was an easy thing to do on Ilium – officials would look the other way. Preitor had no qualms with that at all.

"Sounds too good to pass. Yeah, I'll take it. What time and where?

"Therax will be at the spaceport bar, 'The Flying Goddess,' just before 2 p.m."

Preitor looked at the time; it was already past 12. "That's just over an hour away… cutting a fine line, Thul." Preitor said incredulously.

"Well, I've been trying to contact you for days now. Truth is I can't find anyone to take the job. So, do you want it or not? It's fucking good money." The krogan's tone had changed from surly to encouraging; it was obvious the money was enticing for brokering the deal, "Plus I've already said I'd do the job."

Thul hadn't wanted to say no to the job and Preitor would have been his last chance for some easy credits. Preitor shook his head. _Bloody krogan. _"Okay, details then."

"You're to meet Lar at the spaceport and escort him to his hotel, then to a meeting at 2 p.m. The client will tell you when you meet him. You're to go with him and stay as his security until he returns to the hotel. Therax has more details if you need. You'll get credited at the end of the job. Don't say I don't do you any favours, Gavorn." And with that, the krogan cut off communication.

_More like I'm doing you a favour, krogan. _

He looked at the time again; there was no time to dawdle, not even a quick hello at his favourite hangout, but just enough for a quick shower and to stop and pick up some weapons.

-O-

Preitor's storage unit/come workplace was small but had an efficient layout. One wall had floor to ceiling shelves, stacked with neatly labelled containers of weapon parts. Against the opposite wall was a large metal cupboard filled with tools. Next to that was a large set of drawers, each drawer cushioned with protective padding to hold finished or partially finished weapons. A small lathe and work bench with bright lights stood adjacent to the entrance. Lights flashed on a security panel on the wall indicating the alarm was engaged. It was rigged to contact him directly if someone broke in. He often created unique and valuable pieces – he didn't need to have them stolen by common thieves.

Preitor pulled out a large trunk from under the workbench. This was his personal stash of weapons and armour. He stripped his light tunic top off and placed his pistol holster over his head, the small pistol was now in an easy to reach location. It was one of his favourite small weapons, light, easy to handle and unless they used weapons detectors, most didn't even realise it was there.

He put a light armoured top over his head grabbing the form fitting collar and folding it into place as it butted against his cowl. He picked up a second holster, one that allowed him to carry his primary weapon, a turian designed assault rifle, on his back. The rifle was extremely light even with his signature modification.

Carrying weapons into the spaceport was not an everyday occurrence, but if you have the correct security clearance, it wasn't a problem. He grabbed his security documents and holstered his assault rifle. He then turned off the lights, added his second security protocol to the door and headed to the spaceport.

-O-

_The Flying Goddess_ was a small spaceport bar, a little sleazier than most. Mostly asari dancing girls with asari clients, although a lot of volus on business seemed to like the place. It was also Therax's usual haunt. His "day job" was that of a bouncer, but more often than not, he propped up the bar. Today was no different.

"Therax." Preitor announced as he walked up behind the krogan.

"Gavorn, where you been…? Wait… no I don't want to know. Let's have a drink!"

"Do you really think that's a good idea? It's almost 2 p.m. now."

"Shit, really?"

"Yes, shit, really."

"Okay let's go meet this little turd."

It was a short walk to the arrivals gate. They placed their Spaceport security badges on as they entered.

"Do you know what he looks like then?"

Therax shoved a datapad into Preitor's hands as they neared No 52 arrival gate. The picture showed a very fat volus, fatter than any Preitor had seen before, standing next to an asari.

The large ship they were expecting had only just arrived at the spaceport. Their own arrival had been timely. They watched as numerous people came through, until they could see the distinct waddle of their client volus.

Radoor Lar looked exactly like the picture on the datapad; he was incredibly fat. The asari with him appeared to be different to the one pictured in his file.

"Gee, he is a fat little bastard." Preitor mumbled.

Therax laughed, "Yes he is, isn't he? Why is it that that all these rich volus have asari hanging off them?"

"Money and power, Therax, two things we'll likely never have."

The krogan snorted.

The volus with the asari at his side approached them and the asari spoke. "You're Thul's security guards?"

"I'm Therax this is…"

She cut the krogan off before he could finish "We don't need to know who you are. Lar is not here to make friends and neither am I. Just take us to the hotel." She looked down expectantly at the luggage now dropped at their feet.

Therax grunted and grabbed one of the pieces, motioning Preitor to take the other before directing them towards the waiting transport. The asari cab driver appeared red eyed and distant.

They arrived at the hotel and Preitor watched as the asari checked in for them, the volus remained silent throughout the process. When completed the asari motioned to him and Therax to follow the couple into the elevator. When they reached the sixth floor of the asari spoke to them again. "You're to remain outside the door until Lar is ready."

Therax nodded. And leaned against the wall as the door slid shut. A full twenty minutes passed before either of them spoke. Preitor's thoughts drifted towards making plans for the next week. He was still feeling tired from the trip; a couple more days of settling back into Ilium life should see him right, then onto more business. Before he could begin mentally scheduling his next task, Therax spoke.

"So, Gavorn, I was speaking to Jeanera just before you arrived. She told me your mother died."

Preitor sniffed loudly, "Who the hell hasn't Jeanera told?" _Damn that asari_.

"Well at least you knew your mother. You should be grateful," Therax, said bitterly before interjecting an apologetic, "I'm sorry for your loss."

Preitor looked at Therax, the krogan's wide grey eyes blinking sincerely. Despite the rough exterior of most of the krogan he had met; a lot of them also had a soft side, if you bothered to look for it and they didn't threaten to kill you if you found it. Therax was no different.

He nodded, "Thanks, Therax."

Another 15 minutes passed in relative silence. A few hotel staff walked up and down the corridor, many avoiding the gaze of the heavily armed krogan and turian waiting patiently at the door.

Finally, the volus came out; he had a small briefcase, only about 30x30cm in size. The asari wasn't with him this time. "We're to go to this location," he wheezed before passing a datapad to Therax. He in turn handed it to Preitor.

They were to go back to the warehouse district, the lower section, known for being rather more secluded than any other part of the district.

The cab that Therax had acquired for them was waiting outside; they piled in, once again travelling in silence. When they arrived at their destination, they followed the waddling volus through the maze of the lower warehouse district. A sudden feeling of unease enveloped Preitor. Motorised atmosphere engineers and fans of various airflow conduits gave off a low hissing noise as they passed. In the ambiance of the white noise, he took the opportunity to voice his concern.

"This doesn't feel right." he whispered to Therax and shook his head.

"What the hell are you talking about, Gavorn?"

"I don't know, but turian military training teaches us to be aware of certain things, this just feels wrong on so many levels."

"Pfft you're imagining things. It's a straight up job – what, do you think this little, fat snobby volus is going to turn around and shoot us?" He gave a not so quiet chuckle.

Lar turned towards them, "I heard everything you said. Please cease talking." He said angrily.

Therax nodded at the volus before turning to give Preitor a shrug. Despite his disquiet, Preitor couldn't prevent a wry smile from coming to his face. They continued farther and after about 10 more minutes of walking, Lar, wheezing heavily, came to a halt.

"Just around the corner," he said.

They turned into a narrower path and Preitor could make out three individuals standing within a slightly more open area, adjacent to a large warehouse door. The path was clear, aside from a few crates. When they got closer, Preitor could see that the three people were in fact humans.

Most surprising, one of the individuals was the woman he had seen on the flight from Edessan.

_Coincidence surely…_

When they came face to face, he could see that the two humans accompanying her were heavily armed men.

One of them had dark skin, and incredibly dark eyes, but a shimmer of white light lead Preitor to believe that the eyes had some sort of modifications. The other looked like any other generic human he had seen; the only distinguishing feature was a large scar at the base of his chin. Both looked like they had been through hard times. The woman, still in clothing akin to business attire, was not armed. Up close, her face looked as weathered as the men who were her security. However, her eyes were a startling blue and he could see definite traces of cybernetics. _What is it with humans and augmenting themselves? Did it give them an edge? _

"Radoor Lar, I am glad you _finally_ made it." She spoke in a clipped and precise voice but with a hint of some earth dialect Preitor didn't recognize.

"Earth clan, it is with many apologies that I have not been able to come sooner."

"Where's your little blue, who…, _assistant_?"

"I'm afraid Lutetia was unable to come along, part of the assurance that I come back 'unscathed'."

The woman made a clucking noise with her tongue. "Now, now, Lar, we're both business operators, what on earth makes you think that I would do anything to harm you? Really. Such silly suspicions."

Preitor sensed the long held tension between the parties.

"Not silly, no." He pointed an accusing finger at her. "What the hell was that on Edessan?

The woman waved her hand, "Merely business, none of which concerns you."

"I'm not a fool, Surina. My turian contacts tell me otherwise. You humans misunderstand the esteem which the volus and turian peoples have for each other."

Surina laughed. "Oh I know exactly what the turians think of the volus. Especially ones like you, Lar. We're here to do business. Let us allow the water to flow under the bridge. But I prefer not in the open." She pointed to the door behind her, "In here."

Preitor looked to Therax again before Lar quickly replied. "Really now, Surina, who might be behind that door? You two – go take a look." He motioned for Therax and Preitor to check. They readied their weapons as one of the humans opened the large warehouse door.

Inside it was just a smaller space than the one they currently occupied, just a few more scattered crates, but no obvious hiding spots or the like. The absence of anything suspicious didn't quell the unease in Preitor's stomach.

"All clear." Therax announced as they came back out into the open again.

"Lar, if it makes you feel any better, let's all put aside our weapons and step into this neutral zone." She gestured for the men with her to lower their weapons and put them on a nearby crate. They obediently compiled.

"See." She looked expectantly at Preitor and Therax.

Lar once again turned to them and nodded towards the crate where the other weapons were.

Preitor did not like this, not one little bit, but he and Therax did as Lar asked.

As they walked through to the smaller space, Preitor felt the comforting bump that was his back up pistol.

"Where is it?" Surina turned to Lar as soon as the door closed behind them.

Lar bought out the small case and held it aloft before throwing it at Surina's feet. "It's yours." He turned to Therax and Preitor, "Let's go."

Surina picked up the case and opened it quickly before shutting it again equally as fast.

Preitor pressed the button to open the door but as he lead the way out he heard Surina's sinister tone.

"Not so fast, Lar. You and I have unfinished business."

In a blue flash of biotics, Preitor watched as Surina directed her hand towards Lar, but by the time she unleashed the blast, Therax had stepped between her and the volus. She threw a forceful push in the krogan's direction, and Preitor heard a loud crack. Therax barely had time to reach for the release for the door and yell out "Run!" Before his bulky frame slammed into the wall, a loud thud reverberating around the room as he landed heavily on the floor. Preitor could see his friend's body now lying limply on the floor. Lar was shrieking for Preitor to get a gun, but Surina's bodyguards had already begun to shoot, he watched as round after round entered the volus.

Everything appeared in slow motion, Preitor could see Lar's suite rip apart, seam by seam, the sound of air escaping sounded like the hiss of a Torfan death adder. Then there was the blood, spraying everywhere under the power of former pressure. It was everywhere. Preitor wiped some of the warm liquid from his mandible tips as he felt the air around him close in. His flight response kicked in and goaded him to make a move.

He turned to run when he sighted Surina's biotics ramping up again. As he did, he pulled out his small pistol from its hidden spot beneath his top and fired it into the door's opening mechanism. The door snapped shut like a sideways guillotine, the locking device initiating quickly. The well-timed hit would be enough to stall them, enough for him to flee, to get to Thul as soon as he could.

The unpopulated area made it easy for him to run without any obstacles, but as he headed into the more populated areas of the district, it became more crowded. He slowed, trying to blend in but realised the bloody goo on his face and tunic was obvious. He looked behind him then bowed his head and crossing his arm across his chest. Consequently, he failed to see the large elcor whose path he now stumbled.

He was knocked clean to the floor, dropping his handgun in the process. The collision surprised him.

"With great mortification: I am deeply sorry for causing your tumble." The large elcor stated.

Preitor leapt up, acutely aware of the gazes of those around. He ignored the sorry elcor and continued walking briskly.

"With great sincer…." The elcor began, but Preitor was well out of sight before he could finish his apology.

His legs once again moved in a constant steady rhythm, his mind filled with the knowledge that this 'simple job' was a set up from the start. He fumbled for his comm device.

"Fuck!" He yelled as he ran, "Fuck, fuck!" Before clicking onto Thul's contact details. "Too fucking simple."

Despite his laboured breathing, the adrenaline pumping through him gave his speech the volume and tone required.

"Thul!" No answer. "Thul! This is Gavorn." He heard a click and then yelled "Therax is down. The volus is dead. Thul can you hear this message? Pick up, spirits damn you! There's been an ambush. I'm going to my lockup and get another weapon. Contact me when you get this ASAP."

"Too fucking simple." He muttered again. He stopped, and bent over, his hands leaning on his legs as he caught his breath. He looked behind him. No one following, _yet. _

He could see the cab that had brought them to the district just ahead; the driver appeared to be talking with a human. He watched as the conversation ended and the driver got into the cab and left. The human began to walk in Preitor's direction before taking a call on a comm. Then he started to run in his direction.

Preitor felt for his gun, only now registering that he had dropped. "Shit, hell, shit," before he could duck behind cover the human had spotted him. Preitor looked around for an exit. There were two paths. One was in the direction he came, not a wise choice given they were likely not far behind; the second seemed viable, so he headed in that direction.

His feet once again began an easy rhythm, albeit much faster than before. He turned again to look behind only to see the human had gained on him, he tried to speed up but the human remained close, now only a few metres behind. _Impossible. _As he rounded a corner, he felt the grab at his waist and the subsequent tackle sent him and the human sprawling across the floor. Preitor's shoulder knocked hard against a large stack of crates, the blunt force causing the top crate to tip and fall, missing his human foe by less than an inch.

Preitor felt a punch in the back and quickly bucked as the weight of the human was on him. Preitor bucked again, this time the human let out a small grunt, the force enough that Preitor could now roll over. He was now staring at the human face to face.

More shimmering eyes. The cybernetics more obvious at this close proximity. The man directed a punch to his face, only catching the side of his mandible as Preitor swayed his head to the side to try and avoid it. He caught the man's wrist as he attempted to hit him again, Preitor's talons gripped hard. The man's face was now red; Preitor could see the sweat on his brow, his face, a mask of hate.

"Give up, _turian_." He hissed as he reached for his gun.

Preitor bought his knee up and lodged it central to the man's stomach. He could hear the breath exhale and took the opportunity of the man's obvious gasping for air to get to his feet. When the human tried to do the same, Preitor kicked him swiftly in the upper thigh, making the man crumble to the ground in agony, his gun slipping easily from his grip and clattering to the floor.

His natural military reflex would be to take the gun and shoot the human dead, but knowing that might just make things worse, and aware that the others were likely close now; he decided it would be best to leave, but not before another swift kick, this time to the man's groin. Preitor snorted as the man yelped in pain.

He looked around picked up the gun and placed it in the back of his pants before heading in the direction of his nearby storage unit, once more setting himself a steady rhythmic pace. This was not what he had been expecting from his first job back on Ilium.

"Welcome home, Preitor." He spat out. _Now what's going to fuck up for you?_


	5. Out of the frying pan

It's been a long time between updates for this story, which I apologise profusely. I finished writing this chapter last year but I had a huge problem getting beta readers to review (alas my old ones seem to have disappeared from the fandom). I guess with ME3 ending its all lost momentum for some, but I'd like to finish the story although many seem to have moved on from ME2 now.

I'd like to thank Coombsi for taking a look (even though English is a second language) and Sialater for few pointers.

If you read and spot any errors, grammar, spelling or continuity – please let me know! Thanks!

* * *

Chapter 5 – Out of the frying pan

* * *

By the time Preitor reached his storage unit he was struggling for breath. Although he had maintained a reasonable level of fitness, his standards had dropped significantly since leaving the military. It was only the sheer level of adrenalin that had allowed him to run this far, this fast. As he closed the panel door behind him, he let out a small grunt of frustration.

"Damn." He rested his hands on the workbench in front of him as he continued to curse. "Damn, damn."

His left fist pounded against the steel of the bench and his voice rose.

"Damn, blast, hell!" His right fist followed. "Damn, blast, hell, shit!"

He stood up straight placing both hands behind his head and let out a final stream of expletives.

He took a deep breath hoping it would shake off his anger and looked down his shirtfront to see it speckled with blood. He removed it, inspected it for an area not covered with spots and wiped his face. His reflection in the steel cabinets showed most of the blood was gone and he tossed the shirt into a corner. He grabbed the tunic he had worn earlier and quickly placed it over his head, before dragging out his personal weapons stash from underneath the workbench.

He rummaged through the trunk and found anassault rifle that he put to the side as he continued to look for his knife.

"Where are you… fuck…? Ah there." He pulled out a large knife and holster; he pulled his pants up on his right leg strapping the knife securely before pulling the cloth down over top.

His comm device buzzed on the bench.

"Thul?" He shouted hoarsely into the comm.

"Preitor, what the fuck is going on? What's this garbled message I got from you about Therax and Lar?"

Preitor closed his eyes for a moment and pictured Lar exploding from his pressurised suit. He stiffened at the recollection and a quiver came to his voice. "Thul, it was… was a trap. The meeting… humans… everything just happened so fast."

"Preitor." Thul's voice softened, "calm down, take a breath, and then tell me exactly what happened."

Preitor felt his body relax with Thul's softened tone. "We took Lar to meet someone. It was a group of humans, one of them was a woman named Surina. Lar had something to give her, but when the transaction finished, Surina … she used biotics to kill him and Therax… I ran..."

There was silence at the other end of the comm. Preitor tapped the comm.

"Thul?" He said nervously.

"So you don't know if Therax is dead?" The krogan's voice had a rumble in it that Preitor had never heard before.

"I had no time to check." Preitor winced at his memory of Therax large frame slamming against the warehouse wall.

"Where are you now Preitor? Have they tracked you?"

He quickly patted himself down before responding, there was nothing planted on him, "I don't think so. I'm down in my workshop, grabbing a few things. "

There was a large sigh that came from the comm "Okay, get back to the hotel, tell Lorel what happened. Send me the location of where this meeting was and I'll go check on Therax. Report back to me when you've spoken with her."

"Lorel?" Preitor quizzed.

"Lar's assistant, Preitor. She came with him. She's a bit on the vacant side most of the time, but I've known her to pull through when it counts."

Preitor pondered this for a moment before responding, "Thul, this Lorel, was her picture in the file you gave us?"

"Yes, it was. Why?"

"Well, the assistant that was with Lar wasn't the same one as in the file."

"It wasn't?" Thul asked quizzically.

"No. Definitely not the same asari."

"Mmm, uh, okay." Thul responded. "Look whoever it is, you're gonna have to talk to them. They might know who he was meeting with."

"What do I say?" Preitor asked.

"I don't fucking know! Practice your diplomacy and bad news delivery skills."

Thul cut the conversation short before Preitor could quiz him further. He shook his head and quickly typed in the coordinates from the warehouse where the attack occurred. Having just had it repaired, he hoped his location device was working properly. The last thing he needed was for Thul to be sent to that seedy little bar he was at the night he broke it.

He opened up the large tall cabinet in the far back corner of the unit and grabbed the bottle of turian whiskey he had stored on a lower shelf. This one had been aged 15 years. He uncapped it and took three large swigs. He scratched under his fringe took another swig and sighed. He couldn't believe how this job had panned out. If word got around about this 'incident', he knew he would be saying farewell to his armed escort jobs. No one wants to hire a bodyguard that can't guarantee the best protection. Spirits, he hoped that Therax wasn't dead, that his body had merely reacted to the biotic blast and just knocked him out cold. He took a few more swigs. An old krogan merc once told him that their biology sometimes made them go 'cold', a sort of fake death, but he wasn't sure that was anywhere near the truth. From memory, the old krogan was drunk and in the midst of getting an asari lap dance at the time. Embellishment was a hell of annoying krogan trait.

He took one more look around the unit, patted himself down to make sure he had everything he needed and left. He walked swiftly to the next busy thoroughfare, looked around to see if he could spot any of the humans from the earlier encounter before hailing a cab and heading back to Lar's hotel. His journey over had him glancing behind him to see if any cabs were following, but it appeared that no one had seen him and no one was following him.

When he arrived at the hotel, he looked around furtively before heading into the lobby. He leaned heavily on the concierge desk. "I'd like to speak with Rodor Lar's assistant in room 602."

The concierge looked him up and down. She sniffed loudly in disapproval before answering, "Whom shall I say is calling?"

"It's Preitor Gavorn, I was the escort assigned to Rodor Lar."

"One moment." She replied haughtily.

The concierge tapped the comm device in her ear, and ran her finger over the terminal interface on the desk. She pursed her lips and looked back up to Preitor. "I'm afraid Ms Waloon checked out with her and Mr Lar's luggage about hour ago."

Preitor gave her a quizzical look before shaking his head, "Are you sure?"

"Quite." The concierge replied curtly.

This was starting to look very bad. Preitor sensed there was more to the snooty asari who had accompanied Lar. "Do you know where she went?"

"I'm afraid I can't divulge the coming and going of our guests," The concierge replied indignantly.

Preitor gave her a steely look, one that indicated that he was going to get the information come hell or high water. He smiled, a deathly turian grimace to most other species, but it was the best he could muster. "Look, just tell me where she's gone. This is a matter of life and death."

The concierge sighed and looked left and right before she whispered, "Look, all I am aware of is that she called a cab to take her to Privet market. She had all her bags and Mr Lar's as well."

Preitor smiled grimly again before nodding a polite thankyou and left the hotel employee to her business.

Privet market was a tourist site. Initially the only fresh market in the city, it had taken on a touristy flavour after the release of a popular action movie 'The asari with the thresher maw tattoo.' Most of the southern area of the market where he entered was food and grocery stalls, fresh fruit and vegetables as well as expensive imports of various off world. A wet market for fish was in the southeast corner and the meat market in the southwest. Clothing and apparel took up the bulk of the northern area of the market and this was where the main entry and some of the more souvenir shops were located. A narrow yet distinct 'runway' led to the centre where the food courts were.

When Preitor arrived, he looked around seeing if he could get any idea where this damn asari might be. The place was bustling with many races, asari, turians, humans, a scattering of elcor behind the market stalls, and volus standing outside their brick more established shops. Large numbers of outdoor tables and chairs were scattered around the area and at the very centre of the market was the bar 'Crown Jewel of Thessia'. It had a small bar area serving the open areas, but the majority of the bar itself, affectionately known as 'the crown', was underground. The Crown had become a hangout for those wanting to see or to be seen. Although in the open market part of the bar, everyone could partake in the large variety of beverages on offer, downstairs, it was a different story. It wasn't a place that Preitor felt comfortable, but he had been there several times with Dex, and knew the layout of the place well. It was quite possible that the asari was in the bar, it seemed the only logical place.

He made his way to the entrance where a throng of tourists were taking holosnaps next to the Crown's sign. A long line of people had formed waiting to get into the bar. He politely made his way to the front of the queue. At the door was Clint, an elcor who wastrying to make his way as an actor and subsidising his income as a bouncer.

"Clint." Preitor greeted him.

The elcor turned his big head towards him, "Preitor, with much pleasure."

"How's it going?" He fidgeted and looked warily around as he spoke.

"With excitement. Incredibly well, I may not need this job for long."

"Oh? An acting job?" Preitor's head nodded as he continued to look cautiously about.

"With enthusiasm. I have a part in the next elcor Shakespeare Company. With greater enthusiasm, it is my big break. With much excitement, I will be heading to the Citadel next week to begin rehearsal."

Preitor nodded his head again "Excellent news. I'm glad all your hard work has paid off." Preitor glanced around the crowd one more time, "I'm looking for an asari, Clint…"

"With much mirth, I think you can find one in the blue diamond…"

Preitor laughed "No! Not for that, I'm looking for someone who is in a bit of trouble and needs my help, I was wondering if you can do me a favour and let me in?"

"With hesitation. Agreed, but don't bother the VIP guests, I don't want to cause trouble on my last week here."

"Of course not." Preitor nodded and skipped past him before anyone in the crowd had a chance to protest_._

Inside the smell of alcohol hit him straight away. He knew the smell of ryncol was strong, but this was on a whole other level. It was as if it had vapourised and the aroma permeated the air all around.

The crown was always crowded and today proved no exception. The space was under a huge dome with a rising glass ceiling that darkened from about 3pm most days. This allowed patrons to party for longer. The space was divided into three levels, the entry way and to the left and right a mezzanine encircled the dome, another level just below it was a second mezzanine, on the third and final level was a central dance floor with a large bar to one side and private rooms encircling the remaining space. There were bars on each level, but the one on the bottom floor mainly serviced the private rooms.

Preitor pushed his way through the crowd looking for a good observation spot. He was good at spotting people among a crowd, have spent most of his visits here just watching. He moved to the side and a spot opened up where he could take in all three levels. It was only just past 2pm, so the skylight still allowed the Illium sun to shine through and bright enough that he could easily see the faces of most of the bars patrons. He began to scan, looking to each asari he came across. His eyes narrowed as he caught a flash of shiny green emerging from behind a curtain. It was a concealed entrance to one of the private rooms. He immediately recognised the asari her green flowing dress billowed out behind her.

He moved as quickly as he could and squeezed through the horde of pleasure seekers to the staircase but stopped when he witnessed a human male following her towards the bar. He was almost as tall as he was, in casual dress but with a neat trimmed beard close to the jaw. The asari placed her hand on him and gave an open mouth laugh, before leaning in and uttering something to him, he looked indifferent. Preitor thought humans expressed this emotion, or lack of it, well. The human turned and made his way to the stairs where Preitor was standing, it was obvious he was leaving. As the human pushed through the crowd, a surge came from behind the man and pushed him into Preitor.

"Sorry." He said

Preitor fixed his gaze on the man's beard then his deep green eyes. He rarely came this close to humans.

"That's alright." He muttered his mandibles flaring.

The human smiled and continued up the stairs.

Preitor veered his attention back to the asari. She seemed to be remonstrating with the bartender, the smile and laugh she had given the human had disappeared without a trace.

Before moving to get closer to the asari, Preitor turned to look back up the stairs. He was surprised to see the human had stopped and was looking back at him the man's previously modest smile was now far wider and wry look was on his face. The human turned and continued his journey up the stairs.

Once again, Preitor turned back to the asari in time to witness her grabbing the glass proffered to her from the bartender and walking back to where she had emerged. He moved quickly, dodging a drunken volus in the process to follow her. He knew enough about these private spaces to know there would be two entrances, and at this time of day, likely a door attendant would staff the less concealed one.

Preitor watched as the asari ducked in through the concealed entrance. He then moved around to the other side, and as guessed, a turian door attendant stood patiently outside. Preitor forced his way towards the bar, trying to find a spot where he could view both entrances. Even for a crowded spot, there was an empty stool. He immediately claimed it. He called for ale and watched to see if the asari would emerge again. It was a good ten minutes before he observed three humans emerge from behind the turian door attendant. He took a large gulp of ale and sputtered when he saw one of them Surina. This did not bode well. Watching discreetly he slammed his unfinished ale on the bar and moved sleekly towards the room's concealed entrance, ducking quickly behind the curtain as soon as he was certain that the humans were well on their way up the stairs.

Inside, the room was dark, but he could see the silhouette of the door attendant covered in a shaft of coloured lights reflecting from the dance floor. The asari had positioned herself comfortably on the plush couch, her soft fringe peaking over the top. He stood in the shadows, waiting, knowing if the humans came back and saw him, there would be trouble. He stepped softly towards her, and as he got closer, he moved to face her, determined to confront her.

Her eyes appeared closed. The drink she had taken from the bar was lying sideways on the couch next to her. He kneeled down in front of her, and placed his hand over the darkening patch on her gown. "Shit." He muttered. It was likely a quick death, quiet and painless. A gasp sounded behind him.

An enormous glass jug of blue coloured liquid fell to the floor. The glass made a dull thud as it bounced against the soft furnishings. The unmistakable aroma of alcohol once again flooded Preitor's senses. The asari waiter looked to him then to the dead asari on the couch. Preitor moved as fast as he could, away from the shouts of the turian bouncer. He shoved several dancers aside as he crossed the dance floor. He didn't look to see the commotion behind him as he headed up the stairs, but it was loud enough to hear above the background of the noise in the bar.

More shouting from turian voices spurned him to run faster. All manner of drinks went flying from people's hands as he passed people on the stairs. A waiter approaching with a tray proved opportunity for distraction as he slammed his fist under her tray sending the drinks several metres into the air. He didn't look back. The turian bouncers were bigger than he was and he wasn't up for a fight.

Slamming through the exit the sudden brightness made him blink and the loud noise of the doors slamming behind him attracted the attention of nearby photographers wanting to snap celebrities as they left. The lights from cameras quickly replaced the daylight. Half-blind, he stumbled into the mass of tourists and pushed his way through impolitely. After reaching the edge of the horde, he looked to see if the gaggle of turian bouncers had managed to follow him.

He sprinted to the main exit where a stack of taxi's hovered. He pushed past the cab line, people protested loudly so he took out what credit chits he had and thrust them into the surprised asari standing at the front of the line, she let him pass. He could see that the humans he'd seen earlier in the Crown were now entering a private limousine only 30 metres in front of him.

"Where to?" the driver asked.

"Follow that limousine."

Twice in one day he'd been chased, twice he'd put himself in danger for the sake of his damn job, this damn job that had gone completely to shit. His usual good humour had disappeared, he was angry, angry at what had happened, angry at thinking he was ahead of the game, angry that these humans, whoever the fuck they were murderers and thieves, angry they had caused him this much grief. His eyes turned steely and he could feel his mandibles flare.

Preitor tried to calm himself. His jaw tightened as his teeth grinded hard against one another. He didn't know what to make of it all. What did Lar have that was important? Who was the now dead asari? How was she involved? This human biotic… it was so rare to see them. Who was she? Military, merc, or terrorist?

"So did you see that clawball match on ESPN global?" the asari cab driver asked.

"What… uh no." Preitor replied distracted by his own ruminations.

"Well, you should have. I mean Acteon Travus was phenomenal!" The cab driver paused but continued when Preitor failed to respond. "I mean he has to be the best in the Palaven league. You're a fan of clawball?"

Preitor felt his jaw relax and he nodded, submitting himself to small talk from the driver. "Yes, I am, but I follow the local leagues in Edessan." He said absent-minded.

"Don't know much about the Edessan leagues. Aside from a few players. Hey are you from there?" she asked.

Preitor nodded again, "Yes, but I haven't lived there for years."

The asari drummed her long fingers on the wheel before replying "That Laelius Manius, he's from Edessan isn't he? I heard he's pretty good."

Preitor shook his head, "Yes, that's right, he's from Edessan." He'd forgotten all about Laelius since he returned to Illium, of all places and times to have this conversation.

"That limo looks like it's heading to the spaceport. Do you want to go there?" She asked.

"Let's just see if they are." He knew if that's where they were going it might be difficult to follow them, security being reasonably high in places like the spaceport.

"Yup, that's where they're headed." She leant over and turned on the cab network radio, "You don't mind?" the asari asked.

Preitor shook his head. He was glad that the radio distracted the driver from talking to him. It gave him more time to think. He still had to formulate what he intended on doing once he got to the spaceport. Would he confront her? _No, too dangerous._ _Follow them?_ _Much safer, as long as none of them recognised him from the warehouse. _

The radio droned in the background. "Breaking news…a disturbance in Privet market sees a police searching for a turian last seen running from an incident in the popular Crown of Thessia entertainment complex …"

Preitor's ears pricked at the last statement from the radio.

"Can you turn that up a bit?" he asked the cab driver. He had given little thought to the aftermath of what happened in the Crown. It was a very public place, and he hadn't even thought that there might be cameras.

They were on the main freeway into the spaceport and he could see the limo turning into the international section.

_Shit, they're going off world._

They pulled up not close behind where the limo stopped and the human passengers alighted and headed towards the terminal gate. As they cruised to a stop Preitor noticed a large vid screen near the entrance, several people were milling around. He saw his figure cross the screen and a still framed close up of his face came into view. A ribbon underneath said 'wanted for questioning'. _Damn._ He could do nothing but remain in the cab.

"Don't stop, keep going." His voice quavering.

The driver could also see the screen and turned to look at him her mouth agape.

"I have a wife! An… an… children!" The panicky driver exclaimed.

"Look, I'm not going to hurt you…" Preitor thought for a moment, he couldn't go back to his apartment. His workshop wasn't listed under his name – purposely. He could go there, but he remembered he had a bag at Thul's place of business. He gave instructions to the driver and they turned around and headed down town.

Preitor threw some extra credits in the direction of the driver, "I'm not going to hurt you." He reiterated, "Just take me to the lower market district and I promise you can go."

The driver turned to the front and sped up as they departed the spaceport entrance.

"Please don't hurt me!" The driver continued to plead.

Preitor continued to reassure her. When they arrived at the market district, he told her to get out of the cab. She obeyed without hesitation, her face a mask of relief and he took over the driving. Stopping several blocks from Thul's place he dumped the cab and jogged the rest of the way.

Thul's place of business was typical for that of a krogan with an organized asari partner. The office area was small but it had a large formal meeting area for clients off to the side, this area was neat and tidy and big enough for Jelanna to work uninterrupted even if a meeting was taking place. It smelled of Thessian violets.

Preitor rushed into the office breathless. Jelanna was seated quietly busy with office work. She looked up for a moment, barely registering Preitor's edgy state, smiled and pointed to the mess area. This was the operational area. It was around a large partitioned wall and divided into change rooms, a mess, and a small lounge area. It was tidy for a change, but it had a level of grime typical for a krogan. Right at the back, there was also a small firing range with weapons storage area that could be accessed from the mess as well as the garage area at the back of the premises.

Preitor found Thul and Sarg, another of Thul's krogan employees standing near a large vid screen in the lounge. He was talking loudly and gesticulating at the vid screen in front of them.

"Just another mess I have to clean up," he shouted.

"Thul." Preitor stuttered – no reaction, he spoke louder "THUL!"

Thul turned realizing that it was Preitor and thundered towards him "Preitor, what the hell are you doing here? It's all over INN! The Asari police force has sent for a Justicar. What were you thinking killing Lar's assistant?"

Preitor recoiled from Thul's large form before answering, "It…it wasn't me Thul, it was the same humans who attacked Lar in the warehouses earlier." He paused before adding, "What about Therax? Did you find him?"

Thul, gesticulated wildly again. "Therax is fine, a mammoth krogan headache is all he has, he's lying low till it all blows over – you need to as well, but not here. You're going to have to leave here. Now."

"I will, I will. Just as soon as I get my bag I left here for emergencies, then I can lay low in my storage locker for a bit, no one knows I have that space. Until I figure this thing out and what the best way to approach the pol…"

Thul interrupted him, shaking his head violently "No, You have to leave Illium, off world, you can't stay here."

"But… what are you talking about? I haven't done anything, just wrong place, wrong time. We can just explain it to the…"

"They are sending for a Justicar, Preitor. Do you know what that means? It means she'll be around here too, and that isn't going to happen. No nosey fucking asari Matriarch is going to set a foot here if I can help it. The people who did this aren't your everyday mercs. Therax is an idiot, but even he can't get the foul stench of Cerberus out of his nose. Fucking humans."

"Cerberus?"

Thul nodded, "They reeked of it. It's likely some weapons deal gone bad – I can't see any other reason for a Spectre to be involved. You need to be anywhere that isn't Illium, or anywhere in council space for that matter."

_"_But the asari? I mean, who the hell was she to attract this much attention? She was working with them. They likely got rid of her because she knew too much!"

The silent Sarg now spoke, "That dead asari was not just any asari, she was a council Spectre, who was apparently working undercover and managed to replace the assistant Lar had previously."

"What? How?" Preitor was confused.

"Well… I had a little, err um, 'engagement' with Lar's previous assistant, coincidentally. A few drinks and some pillow talk later she told me what had happened, how a council representative had approached her, how she would be helping the government of Thessia spoil a terrorist plot." Sarg looked a little sheepish at the admission. He continued, "The job was supposed to be mine but as soon as I knew the council were involved I refused the job."

"And you never bothered to tell Thul?" Preitor looked incredulously at Sarg.

"I guess so. I didn't think it was a big deal. I refused the job because… yeah… uh me and the council… history, ya know. Didn't want to end up in one of those floating prisons." Sarg said.

"What the fuck? I get sent to deal with a protection detail against terrorists? It would have been nice to fucking know!" Preitor said angrily.

"The news is reporting on a council Spectre being murdered. Apparently the Spectre was spying on Lar and looking into illegal weapons trading. I knew this job was too good to be true." Thul muttered as he punched Sarg in the arm.

Thul thrust his finger into Preitor's sternum "Getting your face plastered all over camera… You're not much smarter than a Vorcha." He shook his head, "Dumb as a crateful of pyjaks." Thul began pacing back and forth. "You need to get out of here now."

"How can I do that? My face… you said it's plastered everywhere. If only we'd known…" He glared at Sarg.

Thul grabbed Preitor by the arm and dragged him out in the direction of the office. "Here, I have an idea. Jelanna, sweetie." Thul's tone rapidly changed to address his asari partner. "Can you do us something me?"

Jelanna stopped what she was doing, fluttered her eyelids, "Of course."

"Can you Paint this dumb ass turian's face and make him look like someone from another clan?"

"You know I can." She ran her hand along Thul's arm, before turning her attentions to Preitor.

"Sit down, Preitor."

An hour later Preitor had been painted, been given some false papers, had a change of clothes and was wearing the Kandros clan colours, the bright red carefully masking his own dulled white markings.

Thul picked up a data pad and thrust it into Preitor's hands. "Get to the Space port, don't go anywhere else not even your workshop. I'll sort that out and make sure you get what you need. When you get there. Go see Arista Mar at the Eezo café. Arista will have a ticket for you out of Nos Astra and off Illium. She'll also have a contact for you at your destination. Go, before you cause any more problems."

"Thanks… Thul, I'm not sure it's the right decision to leave… but I guess once it's sorted, I'll see you soon."

Thul grunted and punched Sarg in his other arm. "Go get him a cab at least dumb ass."

The cab ride over was a haze, it seemed all too surreal. Even though he'd been involved in in illegal weapons modifications, most of it was petty stuff. The closest he'd come to any real trouble with the law was an unofficial warning after a shotgun he modified for a krogan was fired at the head of Biosoft Universal at Noscon E12. Apparently the krogan was pissed off because the latest gaming console would require holographic interface every 12 hours. The police who apprehended him managed to somehow get out of the krogan who had done the barrel mod on the weapon. They tracked Preitor down, had a 'little chat' with him. He'd lied and said it was a once off mod. He hadn't been worried by the official caution. This was different. Talk of the asari being a Council Spectre, terrorism relating to seriously illegal weaponry and the fact that within the hour they were calling on a Justicar to deal with the problem, had him seriously spooked.

At the spaceport he quickly made his way to the Eezo café. There was only one person in the café.

"Arista Mar?" He asked.

She looked Preitor over before answering, "I don't want to know. Thul's got a damn cheek asking me for this. Give me your data pad."

Preitor handed it over and she punched in some information. "Gate 65, go there now. Hurry, the transport leaves in 10 minutes." She dismissed him with a wave.

Preitor made his way briskly to gate 65. He didn't run, just in case he drew attention to himself.

He could see the large '65' and could make out 'Via the Hourglass Nebula' but it was only when he got closer to the gate he could see the final destination.

He stopped in his tracks.

_Fuck. Anywhere but there._

The red neon glow of what would be his journey's end point was unmistakable.

Omega.


End file.
